The Autobiography of Gray Fullbuster
by darklight1735
Summary: Gray's life isn't perfect. He's not the most talkative and open boy, he avoids people when he can. His brother is fighting for him, his sister isn't around much, and his friends don't completely connect with him... And then there's Natsu.
1. Gray Fullbuster

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Here's the first chapter, it is AU and a Gratsu, if you don't like either then I do not recommend this for you. **

* * *

I trudged along the road side, making my way back towards my place of residence. The afternoon sun beat down against my back. Let me explain who I am, after all this is the story of me. My name is Gray Fullbuster, I attend Magnolia High School as an average student, oh, and my life utterly sucks.

I lost the only real parent I ever had, my mom Ur, a few years back. After that my two siblings, Ultear and Lyon, and I were sent to a dump of an orphanage. If you're expecting some sappy, heartfelt story about some kid at this point, don't count on it. My life isn't one of those childhood stories where some kid grows up with no one when suddenly, out of the blue, they get adopted by some loving, caring family. If anything, I really don't want anyone to "adopt" me. When Ultear was old enough she left the group home to go to college. About a year ago, Lyon did the same, though he has been fighting for custody of me.

I'm not the most talkative of teenagers. I've mostly kept to myself these past few years. The handful friends I have include school mates of mine, Lucy, Erza, and Loke. Though I usually don't spend time with them after school. Loke was always on a date or trying to get one. As much as I like Erza and Lucy, spending a lot of time with two girls can drive any guy insane.

Back to what I was doing. I slowly made my way to the group home I was currently stuck in. I walked up to the gateway and pushed open the rusty gate. I looked up at the sign above the door for about the thousandth time in my life.

**Fairy Tail Home For Children**

That sign has always annoyed me. _For children? I'm not a little kid, most of the kids here don't even like being called a child. _I saw a few people in the kitchen when I entered. I ducked out of view before anyone saw me. It's not like I didn't like anyone here, it's just that I really don't like other people.

I hurriedly made my way up the stairs onto the second floor, where I my room was. It wasn't exactly private; I shared the cramped room with seven other boys. Luckily I got my own bed, that's the closest thing I had to a room of my own.

Two of the younger kids were sitting in the corner of the room playing. I waved at them in greeting (I'm not completely unsociable). I plopped down on my bed and opened up my textbook, _The Complete History of Fiore's Monarchy System. _(What were you expecting when I got back from school? An opera? My life's boring, learn that now.)

Sometime after that I must have nodded off.

* * *

I walked into first period to see Erza and Lucy talking together. (Loke was off talking to some girls with very noticeable figures.) I sat down next to the girls and put my head down, as not to draw attention to myself. I couldn't help overhear their conversation.

"So he's really moving back?" Lucy asked Erza.

"He is, he told me he'll begin school here any day now."

Gray could feel Lucy next to him bouncing up and down. "Yay! It's been so long since we've seen him. Don't you agree, Gray?"

"Hmm…" I looked up at the blonde in slight confusion. _Who is she talking about?_

"Gray never met him, remember?"

"Oh, that's right." Lucy stopped bouncing. "He moved away before you two could meet each other." She put her chin in her hand, a thinking position of hers. Lucy snapped out of her thoughtful pose in a second back to her cheerful, bubbly self. "I can already tell, you two will be great friends!"

I raised an eyebrow at her. _Great, another person I don't want to talk to._ "Who is this agai-?"

I was cut off by the late bell. Loke slid in the seat across from as our teacher, Mr. Macao, walked in. "Alright class, if you're not here you're late. If you're late, then you miss this exciting day of knowledge." I stopped listening after that. Macao wasn't the best of teachers, he didn't teach much and what he did teach I had already learned from Ultear when she was stuck in this class.

Loke nudged me awake after class. "So beautiful, how's life treatin' ya?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Like all the girls that have turned you down today. Now stop flirting."

I grabbed my backpack and moved onto my way to my next class. "Do you mean stop flirting altogether, or stop flirting with you?"

"Like I would flirt back." Loke mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like a maybe. "What did you say?!"

Loke looked up at me in surprise. "Oh, nothing, you'll figure it out eventually."_ What is that supposed to mean?_ Loke waved me off as I headed to my next class. _Why do I always make friends with the weird ones?_

The rest of the day passed in a blur until lunch. Erza sat next to me talking to a girl from our class named Lisanna. "I can't waaaaaaiiit." Lisanna sang. "Last time we saw him we were kids. You think he's changed a lot."

"He's still his usual cheerful, goofy person."

"I bet he's still cute like he was back then." Lisanna swooned.

I looked at the white haired girl. It wasn't often she acted like that, or at least that he's noticed. _Must be the same guy Lucy was talking about._

"I bet you'll think likewise." I almost jumped out of my skin when Loke whispered that against my ear.

"Geez, don't sneak up on me like that." Loke gave me one of his signature smirks. _Wait a minute, what was he implying? _

"Oh. Come on, Gray. I'm just teasing."

"Teasing about what?" Lucy piped up.

Loke slid his arm around her shoulder. Lucy blushed bright red. Loke moved her chin up so they were gazing into each others eyes. "Don't worry about it sweetheart."

I snorted at Loke's attempt to seduce her.

"Loke, stop trying to debauch her," Erza commanded. "Lucy," the scarlet turned to her. "stop being such a temptress."

Lucy's eyes widened. "What did I do?!"

* * *

Once again I slowly, painfully, made my way back to the group home after school. (See how repetitive my life is.) I pushed open the old gates at stomped up the porch steps. I jammed my key into the lock and jiggled it until the old lock gave in. I glanced about the entrance and made sure no one saw me as I tried to escape up the stairs.

"GRAY!"

So close…

"Yeah?" I asked nervously as the group home caretaker glared at me.

"Where have you been?"

"Umm, school?" I smiled sheepishly. I swear Ooba just liked having someone to criticize.

She scolded me for a few moments. "There's a letter for you on the counter." The elderly lady turned away abruptly and left the room. I heard a few animadverts as she left. A made sure on one was looking while I tore open the letter, already knowing who it was from.

_Dear Gray,_

_ I've made a few arrangements, give everything a few more months. Until then just hang tight for a little while longer. Make sure to stay out of trouble until then. No news from your sister yet, though I assume she'll contact one of us sooner or later (chances are it's the second one)._

_Love,_

_Lyon_

_p.s. Don't do anything stupid._

I read the letter a few times through to just be sure._ Months? I can't wait that long._ I sighed in frustration. It's not like it's his _complete_ fault. Part of him having to wait so long for the custody change was Lyon being so young and his guardian skills to some of the adults that grant custody was questionable in their eyes. (He used to be in a gang called Lamia Scale with his friends when he was younger. Now they consider him incapable. Even though he never broke the law.) I folded the letter into my pocket and went upstairs.

* * *

**I know this wasn't the most exciting chapter. But on the other hand, Natsu comes in next. **


	2. Natsu Dragneel

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

I ran a hand through my salmon colored hair. The school building of Magnolia High School stood before me. A grin spread across my face. It had been years since I've been in Magnolia, it felt good being back with old friends. I pushed open the doors of the school building. I glanced down at the schedule that I had been sent previously, trying to find my first class. _Let's see… it should be somewhere around here._

"Yo, Natsu."

I turned around to see a teen around my age with orange hair wave at me. "Loke?"

"Sup, dude. It's been way too long."

"Nothing much, just looking for my class."

Loke grabbed my schedule out of my hands. His eyes gazed across the class on the list. "You have first period with me. Come on, it's this way." Loke lead me down the crowded hallway. He stopped in front of a door, the name Mr. Macao was labeled on the frame.

I saw two girls sitting across the room. One with long, scarlet hair, the other blonde. Even though it had been years, I still recognized the forms of Erza and Lucy. Lucy turned to the two boys as they entered the classroom. "Hey, Natsu!"

* * *

I sat with my head in my arms, keeping from drawing any attention to myself. Lucy and Erza had been talking next to me when Lucy suddenly burst out, rather loudly, a greeting to someone. "Hey Lucy, Erza." Whoever Lucy had greeted called back. _Oh geez, he's even louder than Lucy._

The chair across from me was pulled over and the newcomer plopped down in front of the girls. I glanced up at him briefly before he could realize me. _What the- does this guy have pink hair? What is with people these days?_

Loke slid into the free seat next to me. "Morning gorgeous."

"Morning Loke." I mumbled almost inaudibly.

Erza and Lucy spent most of the class chatting with their old friend. Loke spent most of the time poking me in the side. "Would you stop that."

"When you stop being so gloomy."

"What's wrong with gloomy?"

"Ah, come on. Talk to people for once. I know!" Loke looked like he had one of those ideas of his. "I'll introduce you two." He gestured to the teen talking to Erza.

I eyed the pink hair on the boy's head. "I think I'm good."

"You're so boring, Gray. Here I am, trying to introduce you to someone, and you're just being grumpy."

"Go bother someone else." I ignored Loke for the rest of the class. _Wait a minute…_ I took a quick glance at Loke. _Why is it Loke only ever tries to introduce me to guys?_

The bell rang, interrupting my thoughts. I Stood up quickly, grabbed my textbooks, and hightailed it away from the orange haired teen.

…

I carefully stroked my brush across the canvas. I heard Professor Reedus talking to some of the students behind me. "That's very good, Gray." I nearly jumped out of my skin as the art teacher moved behind me, examining my progress.

"Th-thank you." I stuttered. Professor Reedus was one of my most favorite teachers. He didn't often make me talk about anything, which was just fine with me. The man smiled at me.

"No need to be nervous. I'm just looking." Reedus left after that. I let out a sigh. Even if he was my favorite teacher, I still didn't like talking.

* * *

I walked into the art class looking for the teacher. "Umm, excuse me." I strode towards an older man. "I'm new here, what should I do?"

The man looked at me for a second. "Well, at the moment we're just working on painting. There's a blank canvas set up over there if you want to start. Or you can sketch what you want to paint."

I headed off towards the direction he had gestured to. I sat at the stool before the easel and pondered what to paint. Coming up with nothing, my eyes started traveling across the room. My gaze landed on a dark haired boy working on his painting._ Isn't that the guy who was sitting with Loke earlier._

I moved up behind him and studied his work. A beautiful, snowy landscape was painted across the canvas. "That's really good."

The dark haired boy nearly jumped out of his skin. "Oops, didn't mean to scare you." The dark haired boy gazed at me for a few seconds before turning away suddenly._ Weird…_ "Hi, I'm Natsu." I stretched my hand out towards the teen. He just looked at it. After not accepting the gesture I dropped my hand back to my side. "What's your name?"

The dark haired boy didn't say anything, just averted my gaze. _Does this guy not talk?_ "Well at any rate, I really like you painting." I tried, breaking the silence between us. The raven just nodded meekly. I sighed and went back to my easel, obviously he wasn't going to say anything to me.

* * *

I stood still for a few moments until the pink haired teen left. I returned to my earlier work, watching him out of the corner of my eye._ I hope I only have two classes with him. That guy's annoying._

As it turned out, I had a few more classes with the new kid. When I say a few, I mean more then I can handle. It was one thing when we have history and art together, but that's the most I can take of the load mouth. But then I had to find out I also had government with him,

and lunch…

and math…

and science.

So needless to say, when I got back to the group home that night I had a huge headache from the load mouth's blabber.

I flopped down on my bed and rubbed my temples. _That Natsu kid is going to be the death of me. _I gazed at the water stained ceiling above my, tracing the cracks in the plaster with my eyes. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and flipped it open. I fingered through its contents until I found what I was looking for. A faded photograph of my family was my only real treasure. Ur had her arms around the three of us, Ultear, Lyon, and I. Ultear was actually smiling in it, a real smile that I hadn't seen in ages. Lyon grinned as he sat between Ultear and me. His arm was wrapped around my neck in a brotherly fashion.

I sighed. As much as I loved the picture, it always brought back painful memories. I folded the photograph back into my wallet for safe keeping.

* * *

I sat on top a desk, chatting with Loke. My eyes traveled onto the student that just entered the room. His raven colored hair hid his face from my sight. "Oi, Loke, who is that kid?" I gestured to the dark haired boy.

Loke glanced at who I meant. "Oh, you mean Gray."

"Can he not talk?"

Loke raised an eyebrow at me. "He talks, he's just shy."

"How come?"

A mischievous grin swept across Loke's face. "How 'bout you go ask him,"

"Huh?" Loke's hand collided with my back, sending me flying off the next, right into…

… right into a very surprised raven haired boy.

We crashed onto the ground, me on top of Gray. "Ow." I rubbed my head which had hit the side of a desk before hitting Gray's chest. My eyes fell on the raven underneath me. He laid frozen on the ground, his bangs covering his face, keeping me from seeing his face.

"Erm, maybe you should get up, Natsu." I heard Lucy behind me.

I glanced towards the blonde. "Huh?" She nodded towards me. I glanced back towards the raven haired teen. I felt myself blushing as I realized I was still on top of him, one of my knees between his legs. "Oh." I quickly scramble off the boy. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," I kept apologizing as I reached out to help him up. He didn't even look at my outstretched hand. I pushed himself up, grabbed his dropped textbook, and went to sit behind the safety of Erza.

"Umm,"

"Natsu, that was pathetic."

I whipped my head to Loke, from whom the comment originated. "The hell you talking 'bout? That was all your fault!"

Loke snorted. "I said go ask him what you wanted to know and gave you a friendly push in that direction. You're the pervert that practically sat on his chest."

"Who you callin' pervert, you flirt!"

* * *

I held my head in my arms._ That had to be the most embarrassing moment of my life._ I felt my face heating up. I sent a dirty glance at the pink haired teen. _I'm going to murder him._

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. For those of you who don't know, I tend to update frequently so look forward to that. **


	3. A Unbecoming Greeting

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Real quick, to the question about what Loke was talking about, don't worry about it, that is going to be pretty self explanatory in upcoming chapters. As always, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.**

* * *

So maybe I didn't commit first degree murder at that exact moment. But believe me, that doesn't mean the pink haired, dimwit isn't getting away scot free. The only good thing that came out of the whole episode earlier today was that he didn't bother me in any other classes. Though his voice was obnoxiously loud regardless.

I was making my way back to the group home after school when Loke came up to me. "Hey, handsome."

I rolled my eyes at the flirtatious teen. "That was your fault earlier, wasn't it?"

"What? I just wanted you to meet new people." I began walking away from him. "Yo, don't just blow me off." Loke trotted up to keep up with me. "I was just trying to help." He said innocently.

"Help with what?!" Loke didn't reply, he just avoided my glare.

"you know," he drawled out, after a while. "maybe you shouldn't be so closed up." He turned suddenly and jogged away before I could retort. _Why do I put up with him?_ I watched Loke's retreating back before I continued walking on._ Maybe I can get rid of him along with Natsu._

* * *

I was sitting at the counter of one of the popular eateries in town. Erza, Lucy, and I were catching up on our many years apart (for the most part). Every once in a while I would arm wrestle fellow students from school, (mainly Gajeel and Laxus). Though Mirajane, a girl at school who worked here, gave us a glare when it went from arm wrestling to a full on fight. I couldn't blame, she had clean up the mess we made. Luckily we didn't get kicked out for it since the man who runs the shop, an old man named Makarov, is pretty lenient.

Which is the only reason I was still sitting here. I laughed at something Lucy just said when something outside the window caught my eye. Gray was walking along the street by himself,_ going home, I guess._ I watched him for a few moments as he moved along._ Wait a minute, there aren't any houses in this side of town._ That was enough to spark my curiosity. "Oi, Lucy, where is that kid going?"

Lucy looked outside the window to see where I was looking. One of her famous, devious grins appeared. "Why?" she teased. "I remember you asking about him in first period. Are you taking an interest in him?"

Something in her tone made me gawk. "NO! I was just wondering."

"He's going home." Erza interrupted behind us. "If I remember correctly, you never gave him an apology."

Erza glared at me. That was enough to make me nervous and slightly terrified. "I sa-said I wa-was sor-sorry." I stuttered under her menacing gaze.

"I recall that. But it wasn't a _real_ apology." She grabbed the back of my shirt and started dragging me to the door. With her free hand she grabbed the doorknob. In one swift movement she flung me outside. "Now go apologize." With that she closed the door and left me on the curve.

_ That woman's a demon._ I pulled myself up and brushed the dirt off my clothes from where I hit the ground. _Like I would apologize to that guy. I've tried being friendly to him and he wouldn't even give me a second glance._ I turned to go the opposite way Gray had, but Erza must have known I would try that because she was still glaring at me through the window._ Dammit!_

I turned back around and started heading the way Gray had. _Let's see, what looks like a house._ Gray had already disappeared from my sight so I was on my won for finding him. Though none of the buildings here looked like places of residence. They didn't even look like stores he could work at._ Where did that droopy eyed bastard go?_

Lucky for me, I've always had really sharp senses. Sharp enough to hear someone jingle a lock and a squeaky door begin opened. I treaded over to the source. As I rounded the corner I caught a glimpse of the raven head entering a rundown looking building._ Found him._

I walked up to the gate of the building and began to push it open. "Who are you?"

I turned around in surprise. A girl maybe a few years younger than me sent me quizzical glance. "I'm Natsu." I looked at her, she had long brown hair with matching brown eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Coco, now why are you here." She brushed past me and opened the gate.

"Do you live here? That's weird, you don't look like Gray's sister."

She shot me a look that said_ No duh, moron._ "Yes I live here. Now what do you want."

"I need to talk to Gray." She gave me a annoyed look before closing the gate behind her and walking away from me. "Hey!"

Coco turned back around with a look of irritation. "Do you live here?"

"Wha- no, but-"

"Do have permission to be here?"

"Um, well, no-"

"Do you have family that lives here?"

"I don-"

"Then you're not allowed in." With that she turned back around and walked into the rundown house._ Well that was rude._ I glanced at the building in front of me._ No wonder Gray is so grumpy all the time. I would be too if I lived in this dump._ I stood there for a moment in frustration. _What am I supposed to do now? All I wanted was to go inside._ My eyes traveled up to a sign above the door.

**Fairy Tail Home For Children**

* * *

I glanced up as the door opened. I was cooking dinner in the kitchen at the moment, so it was a pretty clear view to the entrance. A pretty irked Coco walked inside, slamming the door behind her. "Hey Coco, what's wrong?" _See, I talk to people._

Coco turned towards me. "Your friend is standing outside." With that she stormed off to the girl's side of the house._ Friend?_ I looked outside the kitchen window onto the street. I could feel my eyes practically pop out of my skull as I saw the pink haired dolt standing outside the gate._ What is that moron doing here?_

Now any nice person would have gone out to see what the person wanting to talk to them wanted. Then again, I'm not a perfectly nice person. So instead I just watched him until the idiot finally left and went back to wherever idiots go. _Took him long enough._ I went back to making dinner for the house.

…

I've made it my goal this year to avoid the pink haired imbecile. Not as easy as it sounds considering we have a majority of our classes together. During first period the idiot tried to come up to me. "Look, Gray, I'm sorry for yes-"

That was the most I heard before I went to sit on the other side of Erza. Just the scarlet's presence was enough to keep him away from me. Art was trickier, I had to get permission from Professor Reedus to work outside. Using the excuse, _for natural inspiration, _to do it. Government was the hardest one to avoid him in. I sat the farthest away from him as I could, hoping it would be enough. Same for math. Though for lunch the idiot must have been looking for me because Lucy said he wanted to have a word. Which is why I ate outside, on the edge of campus, under a tree, where no one could find me.

So imagine how happy I was when I had managed for the pink haired moron to not bother me all day. Now imagine how dejected I was when all my tactics failed at the end of the day.

I was sitting in science, reading my textbook when a tanned hand reached out and closed it suddenly. I looked up in annoyance at having lost my place, only to see the pink fiend standing in front of my desk, grinning at me.

"Hiya."

I didn't greet him in response. I just glared at him. He just grinned back, my annoyed expression not registering with him. I gave up and opened my textbook back up._ Maybe if I ignore him he'll go away._

Apparently the idiot was too dense to get the hint. Instead he just shoved my book closed once more, this time taking it out of my grasp. He started tossing my book between his hands in a taunting manner.

"You're supposed to say hi back."

I turned my gaze icy cold and remained silent. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for yesterday." I didn't reply. "Also, I wanted to officially meet you, because mostly I've just fallen all over you and that's not much of a greeting."

"Can I have my textbook back?"

Natsu's eyes went wide. "It speaks." I gritted my teeth. This guy is seriously going to get it one day. "How 'bout this. You say hello, and I'll give it back." With that Natsu swung his legs over the desk's surface until he was sitting on the desktop, his knees a few inches from my chest. "I'm waiting."

I sent him one final glare before snapping out and grabbing my textbook back. "Hey!" I stood up and gathered my things to leave. Only to have Natsu stick his leg out in across the aisle so I couldn't leave. "In that case, you can't get to go."

I turned around to leave the other direction, merely to have Natsu's other leg come up to stop me. "You got to say it first." He reached out and grabbed my shoulder, pushing me back down into my seat.

Now we were in an even worse position than when he fell on me. I was sitting with both his legs on either side of me. His above me on the desk while I was lower on the chair, so my main field of vision wasn't on his face, but rather much lower._ Does this count as sexual harassment?_

I kept my gaze down in my lap, avoiding looking at eye level. "Hi." I gritted through my teeth, pushing one of his legs away from me.

"Nuh uh." He put his leg back into position. "You have to say 'Hi, Natsu."

I clenched my hands into fist. "Hi… Natsu." I strained.

"Good, now we've officially met." I sent him a glare._ Aren't you supposed to know someone before they stick you between their legs?!_ "Now you're supposed to say 'How are you?' Then I reply with-"

I couldn't take it anymore. I pushed Natsu's chest and he fell off his desk. I heard an "ow," behind me as I left the classroom. _That pink haired bastard. I hope that hurt. _I felt a smirk twitch at my mouth._ Maybe now he'll leave me alone._

…

Evidently, me pushing him off a desk onto a hard, unforgiving floor wasn't enough. The idiot started to follow me to the group home after school like a puppy. Every once in a while I would start running and make tons of unnecessary turns to try to lose him. Turns out, he's like a bloodhound puppy. No matter what cockamamie route I went I couldn't shake the pink moron off my tail. I groaned at his antics. _This guy is going to drive me insane._ I stopped abruptly in front of him.

"Ow, what was that for?" he complained as he ran into my back.

_I can't take this anymore._ I spun around and faced the pink slow-witted teen. "Natsu, what would it take to get rid of you?"

He mulled this over. "You know, I don't really know?"

I had to resist the urge to slap him. "Then why are you following me?"

"Hmm, don't know that either. But it's fun to annoy you."

_Why is he so dense?_ I glared at him for the umpteenth time today. I saw something behind him moving that drew my attention. The figure moved across the street and my eyes followed it. A figure with blonde hair and a short skirt along with tight fitting clothing._ Perfect timing. _I grabbed the back of Natsu's collar and dragged him over to the figure. "LUCY!" I called out.

The blonde turned around to face me. "Oh, hi Gray. How ar-"

"Here, I got a present for you." Still taking Natsu by his collar, I shoved him forward to the blonde.

I heard Lucy shriek as the teen landed on her. "GRAY!" I quickly picked up my pace after that, getting as far as way from the pink idiot before he got up.

"WHAT'S WITH PEOPLE SHOVING ME INTO EVERYONE!" Natsu yelled out as I ran down the next street. I didn't slow down until I was a few blocks away and the group home was in sight. _Finally got rid of that idiot._

I pushed open the rusty gate and made my way up the porch steps. Quietly, I opened and shut the door behind me, as not to have people notice me. "Gray? Is that you? Will you come here?" Ooba called._ Dammit, that old woman has ears like a bat._

"Yes, Ms. Ooba?"

"Don't call me Ms. I'm not that old." _That is such a lie. _I made my way into the home office where I heard her calling from. _If Natsu isn't the death of me, this old lady will be. _Any dread of having to talk to the old lady immediately washed away as I walked into the office.

A slim, young man stood inside the office. His slanted, sharp eyes stared at me as I entered the room. He stood a few inches above me but wasn't overly tall. Most striking about his appearance was his silver hair that spiked upwards. He smiled as I entered the room. "It's been a while, Gray."

I could only nod in response, my greeting caught in my throat. After a moment I was finally able to choke out my greeting. "Hi, Lyon."


	4. A Unwelcome Question

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I pulled away from his warm embrace.

"Well I-"

"Let's get this over with!" Ooba interrupted.

I looked at the old lady in surprise. "Get what over with?"

"What do you think!" she ranted, waving a sheet of paper in her hand.

I took the paper from her and looked it over. I quickly scanned it over. My eyes got caught on the title on the document.**CHILD CUSTODY **I couldn't help gawk at the paper. "Ly- Lyon, I thought you said this would take months?"

Lyon gave me a sly smile in response. "Let's just say I made a few phone calls."

I raised an eyebrow at him but didn't press the question. If there was one thing about my brother, it was that he had his ways of making things happen.

"Are you going to sign this or not?" Ooba exclaimed.

"Ye-yes." I stuttered. I grabbed a pen off the office desk and looked for where to put my signature. A blank line under where Lyon had signed earlier was waiting for my name. Hastily I scrawled my name across the empty line.

"Way to read the legal issues, Gray." Lyon criticized playfully.

Ooba seized the paper from my. "Good, now get out of here."

I nodded and rushed upstairs to get my things. I pulled my suitcase out from under my bed and tossed the clothed from my dresser in. Gently, I put a framed photograph I had of my mother, Ur, on top so it wouldn't break. I rushed out of the room, earning a few strange looks at my antics from some of the kids in the room.

Lyon was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. "Ready?" He asked.

I nodded. "Let's go." Lyon took my suitcase from me and led me out the door. "What exactly are you doing here?" Lyon cocked an eyebrow at my question. "No-not that I mean I'm not happy you're here. I'm… why are you here, or what your do-"

Lyon chuckled at my confusion. I felt a blush heat my face as he ruffled my hair, letting me know he wasn't offended. "I know what you mean. First of all, I transferred colleges, or rather campuses. I'll be attending the location in Magnolia for now on. Second, I bought a small house here. It's on the edge of town, but I figured this way you wouldn't have to switch schools."

I nodded in understanding. "So we're here to stay."

"For the moment anyway. Just be careful."

"Careful about what?"

Lyon rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "You know how one of the higher ups in the system hates me, right?" I nodded, it was the reason Lyon couldn't get custody of me when he was old enough to. "Well, I found a way to go around him, that's how I just got custody. Thing is, he eventually has to approve custody to make the arrangement permanent. He'll use anything he can to prove I can be considered an unfit guardian. To make matters worse, he can stop by from time to time unannounced to check on you, meaning we never know when he's about to examine our living situation."

"In other words, be a good little boy."

"Pretty much." Lyon turned towards me with the most serious face he could muster. "So no drinking, smoking, gambling, drugs, skipping school, breaking the law, going out late at night to gentlemen clubs-"

I playfully punched him in his shoulder. "Because I do all those things every chance I get."

…

When Lyon said the house was on the edge of town he was didn't mention that was an understatement. It was actually a few miles from the center of town. _Geez, my walk to school is going to be a pain._ _At least it's private._

Lyon unlocked the front door and led me inside. "Home sweet home." He announced. I surveyed the small home. "It's not much, but already got most of it set up while you were at school." He wasn't kidding about that part. For a house that wasn't been lived in it was pretty homely. "That way's your room. Dinner will be ready in a few."

* * *

"Natsu, stop annoying me." Lucy complained.

"But I'm boooored."

"Go bother Loke. I'm still mad at you for yesterday."

"But it wasn't my fault." _Stupid Gray, he's the one who pushed me._ I sighed, maybe I will bother Loke. My head perked up as a familiar raven haired teen walked into the room._ Then again, Gray will work just fine. _I jumped over my desk and started making my way closer to him. Something about him caught me off guard._ He looks… different._

Gray's black hair wasn't hiding his face for once, making him seem more open. Even more surprising, he was smiling. I felt a wave of surprise hit me at that. I had yet to see the dark haired boy smile like that, scowl maybe, but not smile. _Huh, he actually looks kinda cute when he smiles._

Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed his good mood. Loke approached the raven and started talking. "You're in an awfully good mood today. Any reason why?"

I didn't mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, but I was pretty interested. "Well you see," Gray grinned._ Damn, that's a cute smile. _"Yesterday Ly-" He cutoff after that as the bell rang for class. I saw him silently mouth_ tell you later_ to Loke and he took his seat.

_Well, darn._ I silently pouted. _I really wanted to know._

* * *

I stood before my easel in art when the pink haired idiot practically jumped on me.

"Hiya!" he shouted, grabbing onto my shoulders from behind.

_Ignore him; don't let him ruin your good mood._

Natsu was silent for a moment when I didn't reply. "How come you were so happy earlier?"

"Natsu, could you please leave me alone."

"You're talking to me!" The pink haired exclaimed. He must not understand what I'm saying because instead of leaving me alone he wrapped his arms around me from behind and buried his head into my jacket. _What is with this guy?_

"_Please,_ get off of me." I tried.

"If I do will you talk to me?"

"Anything to get you to stop touching me."

Natsu released me from his embrace. In less than a second he had pulled up a stool and was sitting watching me expectantly. _What does this guy want from me?_

I turned back to my painting and continued my work. I saw him sulking out of the corner of my eye. "I thought you were going to talk to me?"

"About what?"

"Hmm, start with why you're not as happy as you were earlier."

"Because you're here."

"Meanie, then why were you so happy earlier."

"That doesn't concern you."

"You were going to tell Loke."

"I like Loke."

"If it's a question about me will you answer it?"

I shrugged._ Why the bloody hell not?_

"Why don't you like me?"

"You're annoying."

"Am not!" He looked like he was thinking over his next question. "Why wouldn't you talk to me the other day?"

"Why would I?"

"You're avoiding the question."

I groaned._ Maybe he'll get bored soon._ "I don't like meeting new people."

"How come?"

"Do you always ask someone you don't know so many questions?"

"I know you, you finally introduced yourself yesterday. Remember?"

I had to restrain myself from smashing my head against the wall. "Just because you know my name, doesn't mean you know me personally."

* * *

I watched Gray as he worked on his painting. I thought of more questions I could ask without him giving me a lame answer. "How come you live at an orphanage?" Gray stiffened at that. Slowly he turned towards me and gave me a death glare._ Oops, crossed a line._

Gray turned back to his painting, ignoring me. "Let me ask you this." His voice caught my attention. I leaned forward to make sure I wouldn't miss a word of what he said. He turned to me with a very serious look on his face. "What idiot dyes his hair pink?"

I blinked a few times, startled by his question. "It's not pink, it's salmon!" I yelled, snapping out of my surprise, "and I didn't dye it. It's natural." I crossed my arms and pouted a little.

Gray snorted at that. "Sure it is." Gray swirled his brush on his pallet. "So is the color on your nose."

"What color on my-"

Gray turned around sudden and smeared his brush across my face. "That color."

…

I walked down the hallway to lunch. I had managed to wipe most of the paint off of my skin from earlier but it still left a blue, greenish, tint on my skin._ Dumb Gray, I definitely have to get him back._

"So what happened?" I heard Loke ask around the corner. I stopped midtrack to listen in.

"Oh, well," Gray answered._ Speak of the devil._ "Lyon came back yesterday."

"That's great, so what happened?"_ Yes Gray, what happened?_ I peeked at the raven from around the corner.

"He was able to make a few arrangements and we can live together now."_ Wait a minute, Gray's living with someone?_

"That's wonderful, so you're happy putting up with him?"

Gray nodded. "It feels great to live together again. He's been gone for so long."_ He's lived with this guy before! And he's happy with him!_ I was too focused on what Gray was saying I didn't realize Gajeel next to me. The taller boy pushed me and I lost my footing, falling into Gray's line of vision.

"Natsu?" Loke questioned, turning around as I made a thud with the floor. I watched as Gray turned away from me and began walking away.

"Hey!" I called after him. "Wait a second." Gray ignored me and continued walking away. Loke reached out his hand to help me up.

"Let him be for right now."

"Bu-" I started to argue.

Loke raised a hand to cut me off. "He wouldn't tell you anyways." The orange haired teen led me to the lunch table Erza and Lucy were already sitting at.

"What's wrong? You looked depressed." Lucy commented.

"Gray won't talk to me." I muttered. A sudden thought came into my head. "Erza, Lucy, you two know him pretty well. How come he's so closed off?"

Lucy shifted nervously. "I'm not sure I should say."

"Agreed." Erza added. "It's Gray's own personal business."

"But if I know maybe I can open him up." I argued back (I don't usually do that with Erza, but I'm desperate at this point).

Erza mulled. "Then I suppose it's okay then."

"Yay!"

"I guess Gray became really quiet after the incident when he was younger." Lucy started.

"What incident?"

"Well, umm, you see..."

"His mom died." Erza finished for her.

My eyes widened in surprise._ So that's why he lived there._

Lucy nodded. "We don't really know though. We only meet Gray after him and his siblings moved here to live in the group home."

"Gray has siblings?"

Erza nodded. "His older sister Ultear and older brother Lyon."

I felt a wave of relief wash over me. _So they're just brothers._ A second thought came into my head. _Why was I so worried when I thought he was living with some guy?_

* * *

I was about halfway through my walk back home, (a rather long walk, may I add), when the idiot came out of nowhere. "Gray!"_ How does he keep finding me?!_ "Gray!"_ Just keep walking, he'll get bored eventually._ "GRAY!"

I felt my breath get knocked out of me as he crashed into me. I stumbled forward a few steps before regaining my balance. Turning around I glared at the pink haired moron who was looking rather pleased with himself. "What do you want!"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"What could you possibly have to say to me!" I spun back around on my heels and stormed away. I felt a warm hand encircle my wrist and pull me down. "Natsu, let go." If he listened at all he didn't listen. I took a few steps away from him. He dug his heels into the ground and tightened his grip on my wrist. "I…said…let…go!" I snapped my arm away from him.

Natsu gave me an indignant look and held onto me tighter. _Why can't he just leave?_ I gave one final tug only to have no achievement of my purpose. Natsu looked at me for a second, giving me a considering look. Then, because his small mind probably prevented him of thinking of something better, he sat down. I sighed. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I figure as long as I keep you here you can't walk away from me. Plus, this way it's harder for you to leave." We stood like that for a moment. Or at least I stood, the idiot remained on his spot on the side of the road. His grip on my wrist slowly started to loosen bit by bit. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry if I made you mad. I'm kind of clueless about people but I really want to get to know you. If you would just talk to- HEY!"

I had managed to pull my wrist from his hold and began to walk away. "Don't walk away from me." The idiot flung himself forward from his sitting position and wrapped his arms around my leg. _What the hell? Is this really his idea of persuasion?_

"Natsu, I'm begging you, just please leave me alone." I took a few steps forward, only to have the idiot hold on to my leg so he was dragging behind me.

"Why don't you talk?" I didn't answer, just kept dragging forward. "Is it because you're afraid to lose them like you did your mom?"

I stiffened. No one talks about Ur, and I mean no one. It was rare when Lyon or Ultear did. But between the three of us no one even mentioned her. The only few people who knew about Ur were-

"Natsu, never bring that up again." He released his arms from my leg and I trudged forward.


	5. Forced Confession

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Yes, this is a Natsu and Gray story. T****h**ank you everyone for t**he** nice comments. Enjoy!

* * *

I closed the door behind me as I entered the house. "Lyon?" I called. No response came._ Guess he's still at school._ I plodded down the hallway into my room. Collapsing on my bed I pulled the covers up around me._ Stupid Natsu, why did he have to bring that up?_

* * *

I slowly unlocked my front door, still a little downcast from what just happened with Gray. Something tugged on my leg as I walked in. "Hey, Happy." The small, blue cat looked up at me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, seeing my saddened look.

"Nothing, just a little thinking I need to do."

"Oh," he replied as I moved to my room. "Natsu, wait up, I need to tell you something."

I turned back to Happy. "What?"

Happy put his paw on his chin, thinking. "I forgot." He stood like that for a moment. "Hmmm…. Oh! I remember." He pointed his tail to a piece of paper on the counter. "You're dad left that for you."

I picked up the note and glanced over it. "What's it say?" Happy asked.

"He's off on business again." That wasn't much of a surprise. My dad often left for weeks at a time without any previous notice. It got kind of lonely without him, but at least Happy was here.

"So it's just you and me?" Happy looked at me with hope in his eyes. For reasons unknown to me Happy never seemed to warm up to my dad. It had to do with something about him being too scary for the small cat.

"Yep."

"Yay!"

"Happy, can I ask you a question?"

The blue cat looked at me for a second. It wasn't often I actually listened to advice from a cat. "I guess."

"What do you do if there's someone you want to talk to but they don't even want to see you?"

Happy went back to his thinking pose. "Maybe you should talk to them."

I sighed. "Already tried that."

"You could try doing something with them. Then they have to talk to you, right?"

The small cat looked proud of himself for coming up with an answer. I smiled down at him. "I don't think that will happen. Thanks though." I bent down and ruffled his fur. "How 'bout a fish for the advice."

Happy perked up. "Aye, sir!"

* * *

"Today marks the first day of a class project." Mr. Warren announced at the front of the class. "Each of you will partner up. I'll hand the assignment to each of you once you have your other partner. There should be a lot of detail in this so I expect everyone to collaborate out of school as well." I looked over to Loke on the other side of the classroom. He was usually the one I worked with on projects. The orange head stared at me for a moment, than smirked._ What was that for?_

"Hey buddy."_ Of course._

"Get off of me." The pink moron had wrapped his arms around me._ Why does he always do that?_

"But we're partners."

"No we're not, now get off."

"Not until you agree to be my partner."

"Natsu, get off of me."

"No."

"Yes."

"Be my partner."

"I am not going to be your partner."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm no-"

"So are you two partners?" Mr. Warren asked holding out the assignment out to us.

"No, we're no-"

"YES!" Natsu clasped his hand over my mouth to keep me from finishing. Mr. Warren smiled at his cheerfulness and handed him the rubric.

"Idiot, why did you do that?"

"Because now we have to be partners."

I grabbed the rubric out of his hand and glanced it over. Mr. Warren was right; this was going to take a lot of working together._ Great, that's exactly what I needed. More time with Natsu._ I sent a glare at the pink idiot. He sat smiling at me like he just won a grand prize.

…

I grabbed Loke after class. "What was that for?!"

"What was what for?" He asked, pulling his best innocent face.

"Don't give me that. You knew that moron was going to do that."

Loke gave a small chuckle. "You're right, I knew he was going to. Aw, don't look so down." He ruffled my hair playfully. "Think of this way, a cute boy wants to spend time with you."

"What does _that_ have to do with anything!"

Loke waved at me as he walked away. "Figure it out." He called back over his shoulder.

…

I scanned my eyes over the cafeteria, looking for the idiot. _There he is._ I strode over to where he sat with Erza and Lucy. "Oh, hey Gr-" I pulled him away from the table before he could finish. "Where are we going?" He questioned as I dragged him behind me.

I didn't reply. I pulled out the school doors onto the outdoor campus. This way we were far away enough where no one would see me if I accidently murder him in the next few minutes. I threw him against a tree and threw my arm against his neck to keep him from squirming. "Listen very carefully." I tensed my arm when he started moving. He focused me, unmoving. I spoke slowly, so even his small brain could comprehend what I was saying. "I do not like you. I don't want to talk to you. I do not even want to see you. Whatever you think you're doing it's not working. After this damn project is over I never want to have you annoy me again. Understand?"

He nodded slowly and I pulled my arm away from him. He slumped down against the tree and I walked away from him. "You know, I only said I understood. Didn't say I was going to do it." He called after me. "Besides, I already got you to warm up to me."

I turned back around. "How do you figure?"

He gave me one of his obnoxiously large grins. "This time you came to talk to me."

* * *

"I DID IT!" I yelled into the mostly empty house.

Happy jumped up at my sudden outburst as I entered the home. "Did what?"

"I got him to hang out with me."

"Him? Does this have to do with what you asked me yesterday?"

"Yep! The best part, he has no choice so he has to."

Happy eyed me. "Natsuuuu, what did you do?"

I pulled a slightly hurt face. "Nothing, I'm just making friends."

"Why doesn't he like you?"

I sighed. "I really don't know, Happy. I think it's mostly he doesn't want to meet new people." I became slightly gloomy after that. "But," I announced, perking right back up, "he'll like me by the time I'm done with him. Just you watch."

Happy gave me a curious look. "Watch? Is he coming over here?"

I nodded. "You'll get to meet him tomorrow. Oh, and don't feel bad if he doesn't like you either, he's kind of shy."

* * *

I walked down the street the next day with a very merry looking pink haired moron. "Stop smiling so much, I'm not with you to have fun."

He turned his smile to me. "I know, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy your company."

"You sound like a pervert."

"But you're fun to be with." I rolled my eyes at him. It was like talking to a five year old, everything you say goes in one ear and out the other. "We're here." He announced. I looked up to a small house on the outskirts of town.

He grabbed my arm and led me up the porch steps. "You know, I can walk by myself, you don't always have to hold onto me."

He ignored me as he unlocked the door. "Happy, we're home!" He yelled, pulling inside.

"Who's Hap-"

"Natsuuuuu," A small, furry, something ran up to Natsu and Hugged him.

_Is that a blue cat? Did the cat just talk?!_ The small blue cat turned towards me. "Who are you? Are you the one that doesn't like Natsu? Do you have any fish?"

Yes, because Natsu having pink hair wasn't enough to make him weird. He had to have a talking cat to complete him. I kneeled next to the small cat. "I'm Gray, yes, and I don't have any fish." The blue cat looked depressed at this. "Maybe I can bring you fish some other time."

The cat brightened at this. "Yay!" he turned and hugged me in response. _What a sweet cat._ "I like you, Gray."

"Thanks, I like you to Happy."

"WHAT THE HELL!" Natsu interrupted. "You like the cat you just meant but you don't like me?!"

"Oh right, didn't you say he was shy?" Happy inquired.

"Damn right I did. You," Natsu pointed an accusing finger at me. "why do you like the cat and not me?"

"I said I don't like meeting new people. I'm perfectly fine with animals."

"Well Natsu eats like an animal, does that count?"

"Apparently not." Natsu muttered.

* * *

I walked back into my room after grabbing a few things from the home office. Gray was sitting crossed leg on my bed. His textbook was open across his lap and he had a look of concentration on his face. _He's kind of cute when he's working._

"So," I jumped on the bed next to him. "What are we supposed to do?"

He gave me an annoyed look. "Have you even looked at the assignment?"

"Should I have?" He hung his head in frustration._ Guess so._

"In short, we have to create our own system of government. Including policies, laws, a court system, etcetera. After that we have to design then create a diagram of a country that follows that form of government. Along with a- Are you even listening to me?!"

Halfway through Gray's explaining I had started to doze off. "YES!" I shouted, coming back into attention.

"Then what did I just say?"

"Umm…" What_ did_ he just say? "Something about you pledging your etern-"

"Wrong." Gray looked annoyed. "Are you even going to listen to me?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"It was rhetorical."

"Oh." Gray looked like he was contemplating murder. "Am I really that bad?"

"Yes."

I was silent for a moment. Does he really not like me? What did I do? Is it because I fell on him? Or does he really want to left alone? I was just trying to be nice to him but maybe I shouldn't have been. "I'm sorry." I whispered.

Gray glanced up at me. "For wha-"

* * *

I was cut off as the idiot practically jumped on my lap. I felt myself falling backwards on his bed as he wrapped arms around my neck. "I never meant to make you mad at me." He sniffled into my neck._ Is he crying?_

I gently rubbed his back to calm him down. Lucky for me, I've dealt with plenty of situations similar to this, having lived in a group home where sometimes a kid wasn't in the best of spirits. "Hey, it's okay, I'm not mad." I soothed. "I' just not used to you yet."

"So… so you do like me?"

_No._ "Sure I do. You're just a little overly strong in your antics. It's a little overwhelming."

"Bu- but, you do like me?" He pushed himself up to look at me.

"Yes."

"Yay!" He wrapped his arms around me tighter. He snuggled up closer to me so his knees were on either side of my chest. "So that means we're friends now, right?"

Wait a minute… Did he just trick me into saying I like him? "Umm,"

"I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!"

_ Did I just get outsmarted… by NATSU?!_

...

Lyon glanced up at me as I entered the house. "Rough day?" He asked after seeing the look on my face. I murmured something unintelligible and flopped onto the couch. "I'll take that as a yes."


	6. Realization

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Here's the next (short) chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

"Natsu, I think you're annoying him." Lucy stated as she watched the energetic teen drape his arm around me.

"Aw, it's okay. Gray and I are friends now. Right Gray?"

"No."

"That's the spirit."

"Still, I'm glad to see you two getting along." Erza announced. "It's not every day Gray openly talks to someone."

"I'm not doing it because I want too." I sighed, burying my head into my arms. The five of us were sitting around our regular lunch table talking. I had happily been quietly talking to Loke when Natsu sat next to me. So of course, the idiot just had to annoy me. This included him hugging me when he sat down and acting like we've known each other our whole lives.

"Gray likes me, he admitted it yesterday."

"Oh did he?" Loke raised an eyebrow at me.

"Only because he wouldn't stop bawling. It was more like blackmail than anything else."

"But it was good blackmail." Natsu argued.

"I don't think there's anything called 'good blackmail." Lucy pointed out.

"It did work out for the best though. Maybe now Gray won't always avoid people." Erza voiced her thoughts out loud.

"Maybe Gray and Natsu will be best friends." Lucy swooned, dramatically. A thoughtful and slightly wicked look crossed her face.

I sighed. Something about Lucy's daydreaming told me not to ask what she was thinking. I turned to Loke who had gone silent. The orange haired kept looking to and fro between Natsu and me. The worst part, he had the same grin on his face he always had before he went to go convince a girl to date him._ Why do I not want to know what he's thinking either?_

* * *

I watched as Natsu flipped uncaringly through his textbook in final period. _This is just too perfect._ I couldn't help thinking._ Gray isn't here to distract him and he's finally alone for me to talk to him._ I moved up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. Natsu turned around in surprise before calming down at seeing it was just me. "Hey, Loke, what are you do-"

"Can I talk to you in private?" I was already dragging the pink haired teen out into the hallway.

"Umm, I guess." He didn't really have a choice as he was already alone with me outside the hallway. "So, Loke, what is it?"

"Okay Natsu, spill it."

He looked at me confused. "Spill what?"

"You know what." He gave me a dumbfound look. "About you and Gray."

"What about it?"

_Wow he is dense._ "How well have you two really hit it off?"

Natsu perked up, apparently understanding what I meant. "Well I think I kind of annoyed him at first, but I can tell the two of us are going to be great fri-"

"That's not what I meant." _Am I going to have to spell this out for him?_ "What I mean is, how much have you come on to him?" Natsu gave me a quizzical look. I groaned,_ maybe I do have to spell it out._ "Come on to, make advances, coquet, dally, linger on each other, flirt."

Natsu gave me a slightly disgusted look. "But Gray's a _guy._"

"So? You like him, don't you?"

"Well, yeah bu-"

"You think he's cute."

Natsu blushed. "Yes, bu-"

"You enjoy it when you hug him, don't you?"

"YES!" Natsu cut me off. "But he doesn't think that way about me." Natsu said in a small voice. "What if he doesn't like me because I'm a guy?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Don't worry about it. He'll like you either way. You just have to convince him."

Natsu looked up at me in surprise. "Really? Gray doesn't mind that I'm a guy?"

"He just doesn't know it yet. You just have to make him realize it."

"How do I do that?"

"How am I supposed to know? Figure it out." With that I left a very flabbergasted Natsu standing alone in the hallway wondering about what he just heard.

…

I walked outside where Lucy was waiting for me. "Took you long enough. Did you convince him?"

I shrugged. "How should I know? Hopefully Natsu will at least _try_ something now."

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Phase one, make Natsu realize his feelings, in progress." She muttered.

* * *

I was walking back to along with Natsu back to his house where we agreed to always meet (there's no way I'm taking him home with me). For once he wasn't talking too much, almost not at all. Not that I'm complaining, the quiet was nice, but it was so out of character for the perky moron it was almost disturbing. Every once in a while I would catch him staring at me. Every time I found him doing so he would quickly turn away from me, but not before I caught seeing a deep red blush creep across his cheeks.

"What's with you? You're acting weirder than normal." I stated.

"Umm, I guess I am." He murmured timidly._ Since when does Natsu act shy? _I was so absorbed in my thoughts I didn't notice when we arrived at his home. Natsu walked up the stairs be himself and unlocked the door._ That's odd, not once on the way here has he grabbed onto me._

Natsuuuuuu, Grayyyyyyy." Happy sang as he ran up to us.

"Hey, Happy." I patted the cat's head.

* * *

Gray was sitting on my bed again, going through his notes. I kept my head low on my own work, keeping my gaze from him. I had been hoping happy would be in here with us so it wouldn't be so awkward. The little traitor left though, saying he had better things to do. Now I was all too aware of the current situation. It was just the two of us…

…alone…

…with no one around to interrupt us…

…on my bed.

I shook the thought out of my head._ Get your mind out of the gutter._ I scolded myself. _Still…_

I glanced up slightly at Gray. The words that Loke said to me earlier still rang in my mind. _He is fun to hug._ I had to resist myself from jumping on him._ Gray really is cute._

"What are you still staring at?"

I must have been staring at him for too long because he finally commented on it. "No-nothing." I mumbled. I looked back down to the textbook on my lap.

* * *

_What's with him?_ Natsu's attitude had changed so drastically from when I had last seen him it was like he wasn't even the same Natsu. _Maybe he's ill._ I thought._ Not that I care._ I thought again, ignoring the pink haired teen next to me. _It's just Natsu anyways._

I saw another blush spread across his cheeks._ Okay, this has gone on long enough._

* * *

"HEY!" I reached out at Gray in surprise. The raven head had grabbed my textbook from me._ This is familiar. _I thought._ But what am I going to use to distract me from Gray._ "Give it back!" I reached over to grab my book back from him.

"Not a chance. Tell me what's wrong with you."

"Nothing's wrong with me." Gray held my book away with one hand. The other was placed against my chest, pushing me away. I tried ignoring how comfortable it was to have his hand on my chest.

"Yes there is. You're acting like a ditsy schoolgirl."

"I am NOT!" I yelled, jumping over him to snatch my book from him. Gray groaned in annoyance._ That was a cute groan._ He lifted my book behind him and dropped between the gap between the mattress and the wall. "What was that for?!" I squirmed up to where he was to retrieve my book. Gray brought his knee up to my chest and pushed me onto my back. I glared at him.

Sometime after that it turned into a wrestling match. Gray had both hands on my shoulders, pinning me down on the mattress. I wrapped on of my legs around his and pulled his leg out from under him. He flipped onto his back and quickly moved to hold him down. He struggled beneath me a little before going still.

"Ha, I win." I shot him one of my grins in triumph.

"Did not, I'm just taking a break."

"Sure you are."

I smiled down at him as he gave me one of his glares. I moment later I became cognizant of what position we we're in. My left hand was next to Gray's head, not that big of a deal. My other hand however… not so much. I had thrown it down to keep him down earlier and now it had slid between his legs, very close to a part of him that I shouldn't be so close to.

I felt my face heat up; I quickly pulled my hand away and got off of him. "So, that was fun. Maybe we could do it again sometime." I said hurriedly, hoping he didn't notice where my hand had just been. I turned away from him so he wouldn't see my now red face. I could feel his eyes burn into me.

"You're extremely bizarre, you know that."

I turned back to him in surprise. "Wha-" Gray brought his hand up and hit the backside of my head. "Ow, what was that for?!"

"For acting unlike you're usual self. Go back to your pesky old personality."


	7. A Mistaken Acknowledgement

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Thank you everyone for the sweet comments. Enjoy!**

* * *

Groaning, I rolled over in my bed._ Just don't think about him. He doesn't like me the way I want him to. _I buried my head into one of my pillows in frustration. _Come on me, don't think of him._ Apparently my mind didn't want to listen to me. The raven head came back into my head.

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

I jumped up from my bed and ran down stairs into the living room. I grabbed my jacket from its position on the floor and made my way to the door. "Where are you going?" Happy called after me.

"Loke's, I need his advice."

"But Natsuuu," Happy scuttled up to me, grabbing my leg before I was completely out the door. "You can't."

I bent down to start prying his paws off my leg. "Why not?"

"It's late, everyone's asleep."

"What?" I glanced over to the kitchen clock. Neon green numbers read 11:04. "Oh." _When did it get so late? _"I guess I'll ask him tomorrow." I began to slump back to my room.

"What were you going to ask him?" Happy asked.

An image of the raven head came into my head. A blush started to creep along my face. "Nothing."

* * *

"You're still up?"

"Hmm," I looked up from my work to see Lyon standing in my door way. "Just for a while longer."

Lyon sat on my bed and watched me work for a few minutes. He cleared his throat to clear the silence. "I got a letter from your sister today."

I glanced from my work, curiosity getting the better of me. "Did she say where she was?"

"Still somewhere up north." Lyon put a hand on my shoulder when he saw my slightly panicked expression. "I'm sure she's fine. There hasn't been any severe weather up there yet. She'll probably leave before things get too bad." Lyon pushed himself off my bed. He ruffled his hand through my hair before leaving my room. "Don't stay up too late." He called back.

"Night." I yelled after him. I tried focusing on my work for a while. My thoughts kept getting interrupted by the thought of my sister. I buried my head in my arms in defeat._ Ultear, why'd you leave us._

…

I was on my way to our usual lunch table when I spotted Loke and Natsu talking together in hushed tones._ That's odd._ Curiously, I walked up to them. Natsu saw me and quickly turned away, his face turning pink as his hair. _He's still acting funny._ Loke nodded in my direction, or rather someone's direction that was coming up beside me. "Hey guys, what's u-" I was cut off as the person coming up next to me grabbed my arm.

"Gray!" Lucy exclaimed. "Long time no see."

"I saw you yesterday."

"Oh, details. Here's an idea, let's leave Loke and Natsu alone for a moment. How 'bout you come hang out with just us girl."

_Please no._ "Umm I'd rath-"

"Good, let's go." Lucy had a grasp like steel on my arm as she dragged me away. Reluctantly, I let her drag me off. If there was one thing I know, it's not to argue with a determined Lucy. Though I started to wish I was dumb enough not to know that as she sat me down at a table full of girls._ Please, anything but this._ Erza stepped up behind me before I could make a break for it.

"Is it true you have a crush on someone?" Lisanna asked me.

"Wha-"

"Yes, he does." Lucy interrupted.

I widened my eyes at her in surprise. "I do?"

"Who is it?" Levy inquired.

"How should I kn-"

"You'll find out soon enough." Lucy finished for me.

"Do we know them?" Cana added.

"I don't have a cru-"

"Yep." Lucy stated.

"Come on Gray, tell us who it is." Bisca cried.

"Yeah, Gray, tell us." Cana, Lisanna, and Levy chorused.

"I agree, Gray, you should tell them." Erza commanded.

"But," _I don't even know who they are?_ The girls looked at me expectedly. Their voices still pleading in my ears. "I can't take it anymore!" I pushed myself up from the table and made a break for it.

* * *

"Will that really work?" I asked, doubt in my voice.

Loke nodded. "Trust me, I get tons of girls this way. You just have to do it at the right moment."

I watched as Gray ran from the table of girls Lucy had dragged him to earlier. "What if he runs off because he doesn't want to hear it?"

Loke brushed the question off. "Trust me; it'll work out in the end."

"Yeah, but…"

"Are you doubting my genius?" Loke boasted. "Am I not the one who can get as many girls as I want? Has my judgment ever wronged in dating advice before?"

I shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? Besides, you get girls, Gray's a boy."

"The technique carries over."

"Still, your relationships last a day at the most. I don't want Gray for a day." I sighed in defeat.

"You'll be fine. Just don't hurt him."

* * *

"Oi, Gray, can I talk to you?" I turned around and saw Natsu trotting towards me.

"Sure." I had been on my way home, having not made plans to work on our project with him today. "What's up?"

He shuffled his feet nervously. "Can we, maybe go, someplace more… private?"

_Weird_. "Okay." I answered a little precarious. Natsu grabbed my hand and led me to a park near the school._ Since when does he grab my hand?_ He let go of my hand and turned to face me.

* * *

Gray stood in front of me, waiting for me to start. I opened my mouth to begin. _What do I say._ I closed my mouth and stared at the ground beneath me._ Come on, Loke didn't tell me exact details._ "Are you going to say it?" Gray asked.

"Umm, well…" _What do I do?!_ "I-I ju-just wa-wanted,"_ Oh crap, I'm stuttering!_ "To say that," _what am I supposed to say next?!_

"Are you okay?" Gray asked. It made me surprisingly happy to hear concern in his voice.

"No- YES!" I exclaimed._ I can do this._ "It's just, I wanted to say that I really," My voice caught in my throat._ Oh no, I can't say it._ I coughed a few times in panic. Gray rested a hand on my back.

"Sure you're okay?"

"I'm fi-fine." I choked out. _It's now or never._ "I just wanted to say that I really like you." I bit my lip to keep from saying more. I stared back down, suddenly becoming intently interested in an ant on the ground._ Oh please, please, don't freak out._

"You mean as a friend?" The raven spoke up. I looked up at him as he continued. "You know, you're not so bad either. You're annoying sure, but you're actually pretty nice."_ He's completely clueless._ I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Gray patted my on my shoulder. "If that's all I'll be going now, see you tomorrow. Bye."

"By-bye." I replied in a monotone. I blinked back the tears forming in my eyes._ He doesn't get it._

* * *

I threw my backpack on the floor as I entered my house. _That was… outlandish._ I thought, not thinking of a better word to describe what happened earlier with Natsu. _He's been acting weird lately,I hope he's not sick._ I shook the thought out of my head._ Since when do I care if he's okay?_

_ Still…_


	8. Impressions

**I do not own Fairy Tail. School's back in session so updates won't be as frequent (sorry). But, anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

"WAKE UP ALREADY!"

I sat up in bed, startled from sleep by Lyon's yelling. Running a hand through my raven hair I untangled myself from my sheets. I slumped into the kitchen where Lyon was cooking breakfast. "It's the weekend, why do I have to get up?" I yawned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Aren't teenagers supposed to be filled with energy? Why would you want to sleep all day?"

"What about you? Aren't college kids supposed to hungover on the weekends. Why are you so cheerful?" I reached over for one of the plates of breakfast Lyon had prepared. I plopped into one of the chairs at the table.

"What would you know about the college lifestyle? If anything your sister was more of a party animal than me."

I choked on the eggs I was eating. "Wait,_ Ultear_ went to college parties?"

"Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't think she wanted me to mention that." A smirk crept along my mouth._ This is rich, no way am I going to let my high and mighty sister live this down._ "Back to your first question, I have a suspicion that the man that has to approve my custody will start his many inspections today. The better we look the less chance he can deem me unfit."

"So look like we're not living like animals."

"Yep, now go get dressed."

* * *

"Dammit, why didn't it work." Lucy clenched her fist in both anger and annoyance.

"Gray's thick, we've always known that, but I didn't realize he was _this_ thick." Loke gritted his teeth in vexation. "How can he _not_ get it? Love confessions always work. How did my plan not work?!"

"Maybe he just doesn't like me." I finally spoke up. After spending the night silently crying over Gray unknowingly rejecting me I decided to turn to Lucy's advice. Turns out Loke and Lucy were a tag team. So now I'm sitting on Lucy's bed listening to both of them go over what went wrong. As if I going through it wasn't enough, I had to listen to them talk about it repeatedly.

"Maybe Natsu just needs lessons?" Lucy smiled at her idea.

I peeked an eye through my bangs to look at her. "Lessons?"

Loke nodded in agreement. "You're right. How could we have thought someone as inexperienced as Natsu could do this? We just need to start from square one."

My mind reeled over what they were saying. "What kind of lessons?"

"It's decided." Lucy ignored my question. She pointed a finger in my direction. "Starting today you are going to get dating lessons from Loke and me. By the time we're through with you you're going to be able to pick up any one you want."

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat._ Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to _enjoy_ this?_

…

A hand cam raking across my face. "Ow, what was that for?" I gave Lucy a sulking look, holding my throbbing cheek.

"Chew with your mouth closed. Now start over." I glared at the blonde. As dignified as I could I picked the fork and knife back off of the plate in front of me. Lucy slapped me again. "Get that scowl off your face. No one likes an angry looking boy."

"Maybe if you'll stop hitting me I won't be tempted to scowl."

"How's it going?" Loke came back into Lucy's bedroom, holding something I couldn't see behind his back.

Lucy groaned in response. "He's hopeless. _No one_ will ever be able to teach him manners."

"This coming from the girl for is abusing me."

"He just needs to act the gentleman; he doesn't need to be one." Loke commented. "Let's give the manners a break for a time. We need to move on to more important matters."

Lucy nodded in agreement. "You're right; this can't go on for much longer."

Loke turned towards me. He pulled the object from behind his back into my line of vision. A hairbrush was held in his clenched palm. "Ready, Natsu."

* * *

"Is your bedroom clean?"

I couldn't help roll my eyes at Lyon as he asked that question for who knows how many times. "The answer hasn't changed since you last asked."

"So it's a yes?"

"Will you stop panicking. The house is spotless. He can't complain that it's a health hazard."

"He's going to complain about something, it should at least not be something obvious."

"Why does he hate you anyway?" I sent a curious look to Lyon. It was pretty rare that family members didn't get custody on first request. Even more rare for them to be considered questionable. Why Lyon taking care of me was such a problem was beyond me.

My older brother gave a nervous chuckle. "No special reason. He just never believed me when I said I was done with my wild days with the gang. You know how he is with anyone who doesn't pursue the rules. Do one thing wrong in his eyes and you're forever marked ill willed." I nodded to show I understood. The few times I've met the man he never seemed like the warm and forgiving type.

* * *

"Dammit, Natsu, stop moving." I squirmed as Lucy tried pinning my arm behind my back. Loke dug his knee further into my back as I did.

"Why do you keep torturing me? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Maybe if you cared about personal hygiene it wouldn't be so bad." Lucy gritted through her teeth. She ran the brush through my tangled locks roughly. I winced as she pulled at my hair. "Do you not own a brush?"

"Why would I brush it if it'll just get messy again?!" I retorted.

"It's greasy, you don't wash it either?"

"Not all the time."

Lucy gave me a disgusted look. "That's it, Loke take him back home."

"Why?" I questioned as Lucy took the brush away from my hair.

"Because I don't want your boy germs in my clean tub."

* * *

I looked up from the book I'd been reading when the sound of a car door closing caught my attention. _Well what do you know, Lyon was right about him showing up today._ "He's here." I called over to Lyon. The other glanced out the window to see a man coming up to the porch steps.

Lyon gave me a last look before going to open the door for him. "Remember, good impressions only." The white haired male turned ack to the front door after he heard a knock. He smiled at our guest. "Welcome, Mr. Lahar."

* * *

"Natsu?" Happy looked up from the spot he was sleeping at to see us enter the small house.

"Hi Happy," Lucy greeted, "where's the bathroom?"

"I'll give you a fish if you don't answer that."

"Upstairs on the right."_ Even my own cat is going against me today._ Loke let go off me and went upstairs. Lucy grabbed onto my collar before I could escape. "How come you two are here?" Happy asked the blonde.

Lucy gave Happy a bland look. "Happy, did you know Natsu tries _not _to take baths?"

"You know I'm not five." I spoke up.

"Umm, I guess, but Natsu doesn't make me so I don't make him."

Lucy gave the cat a look of abhorrence. "How do you put up with him?!"

"Bath's ready." Loke came back down the stairs. He grabbed onto the back of my collar and pulled me up the steps. Lucy close behind. My eyes widened in fear as the tub came into view.

"Calm down, it's just a bath." Lucy snapped.

"So? Doesn't mean I want to take it."

"Natsu, are we going to have to bathe you?" Loke gave me a teasing look.

"Wha- NO!" I kicked as the orange head forced me into the tub, clothes and all.

"I think that's a yes." Lucy sighed.

* * *

Mr. Lahar spent part of the introductions casting Lyon dirty looks. Afterwards he asked a long list of, let's just say uncomfortable, questions about the relationship between Lyon and I. Some of which involve me never wanting to think of him in that way.

Currently he was going around the house, making sure it was in livable conditions. "So, o we pass?" Mr. Lahar gave Lyon a despotic look.

"I don't have to share that information with you." Mr. Lahar walked back to the front door. "I'll be dropping by a few more times. I suggest you don't slip up." With that the older man slipped out the door, back to his car.

"Well that was pleasant." I commented as Mr. Lahar left.

"I'm just glad he doesn't have anything on us yet."

* * *

I sat up gasping for air. Lucy grabbed back onto my salmon hair and ducked my head back under the water. Water rushed back up my nose, leaving a stinging sensation of pressure. I heard mumbled voices in my ears as water filled them. I sat back up, coughing as water left my throat. "What?" I spluttered.

"I think he's clean." Happy announced.

…

Lucy patted a towel against my hair. "Just keep it clean from now on and we'll never have to relive this." I growled at her in return. "It wasn't so bad. You just got a little wet."_ A little? Did she not see the pile of dripping wet clothes I had just changed out of?_

"On the bright side, at least he smells nice." Happy piped up.

"Be quiet, Happy. I'm still mad at you."

"What did I do?" the cat sounded a bit hurt.

"You let them do this. I even offered you fish and you took their side."

"But it's funny to see you get a bath." Happy giggled.

"They're on their way." Loke announced, entering the room.

"Who's on their way?"

"Are they really?" Lucy asked. Loke nodded._ Is no one going to answer my questions today? _"Excellent, by the time the weekend is over Natsu will be the ideal gentleman."

…

About half an hour later I could hear the doorbell ring. Lucy got up and went to answer it. "Oh good, you made it. He's right in here." I peeked around the corner to see who she was greeting. I gulped in terror.

A certain scarlet stood in the doorway looking like she was about to deliver punishment onto the helpless innocent.


	9. Funny Feelings

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

It felt like being a judging at a pony show. The smell of whatever Lucy put in my hair assaulted my nose. The crisp, clean shirt Loke had found for me scratched at my skin. My sore shoulder ached from all the _incentive_ Erza had given me. The three of the, along with Happy, now looked down at me in inspection.

"I think he's ready." Lucy drawled out.

Loke nodded. "It's all up to him now."

"Let's just hope all goes smoothly." Erza spoke up. The scarlet laid her hand on my shoulder. "Now go forth, my son."

* * *

"You smell like strawberries."

I was sitting in first period when Natsu came in the room. The rosy haired boy sat down next to me. Something was different about him. His skin glowed a little more and his clothes weren't as winkled. A little bit behind him I saw Erza and the others watching him for some unknown reason.

"What do you mean?"

"You smell like a perfume department."

Natsu gave me an irked look. "I do not." I leaned over a grabbed a handful of his pink hair. "Hey!" he yelled.

I ignored him and brought a few strands of hair to my face. "Yep, just like strawberries."

Natsu gave me another look of vexation. "What's wrong with strawberries?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, it goes with your pink hair."

"My hair is NOT pink!"

"Are you color blind?"

"It's salmon!"

* * *

"This is not going well." Lucy's hopes fell as Natsu argued with Gray.

Erza grinded her teeth beside her. "How dare he forget what I told him about acceptable behavior. A gentleman does not raise his voice." The scarlet rose from her seat and began to move to the rosy haired boy.

Loke put his arm out to stop her. "Give it a moment." The orange haired watched as Gray teased the other boy. "It may not be what we were aiming for, but it'll do just as well."

* * *

"Why can't I watch?"

I rolled my eyes as Natsu whined beside me. "Because you're annoying. Now go work on your own project." I carefully moved my brush along the canvas. Natsu was silent for a few moments.

"Can I sit next to you while I work?"

"You sit five feet away right now. How close do you want to get."

"Come on, Gray. Be my inspiration."

"You already have inspiration." I pointed to the picture he was painting.

"Can I still sit next to you?"

I groaned in defeat, Natsu really was persistent "Fine, but only if-" Natsu already had his stool and easel pulled up next to me before I could finish."Just be quiet."

* * *

I semi worked on my own painting, every once in a while I would stop to watch Gray work. _H's really good at this._ Gray was almost masterful in his brushstrokes, not making a mistake on the blank canvas. A small thought tugged at my mind._ Maybe I could show off my own skill._

I wasn't an extraordinary artist, but I could still do pretty decent work. I cast my eyes back and forth from the picture I was painting to the blank canvas, making the two works proportional. Judging the distances I started the outline of the work. "That's actually really good."

I was startled by Gray's voice. I'd been so focused I missed when he started watching me instead. "We're you expecting something bad?"

"Just didn't expect you to be serious."

* * *

I looked at the image now coming to life on Natsu's canvas. The familiar blue figure of Happy holding a fish was forming on the once white canvas. Somehow Natsu being focused about his work gave me a pleased feeling. "It's really coming together."

Natsu mumbled something that sounded like 'thanks.' I went back to my own work after that. "Hey, Gray."

"Hmm," I glanced back at Natsu.

"Do you think you want to hang out sometime?"

I shrugged._ Why the hell not._ "Sure."

…

"You're way too obvious." I commented as Loke I slumped away from yet another failed attempt at picking up his daily fling.

"Aw, shut up, like you could do better."

"What would you know? I bet I could pick up any girl I wanted to."

"You sure about that?" Loke teased.

"Of course, I just don't want to."

"Well you're probably partway right."

"Huh?"

Loke pulled my chin pull and looked in my eyes. "You know, you're pretty damn cute Gray. You probably could pick up anyone you flirted with, that part was right." Loke was almost inaudible for a few seconds. He bent down so his hot breath tickled my ear as he whispered. "As for the girl part, stick with boys."

I swung my leg out a kicked Loke's leg out for under him. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

Loke slowly stood up after he fell. "Look, I've known you for years, how you don't know what that means is beyond me. All I'm saying is maybe you should start thinking about it."

* * *

"Do you have anything planned?"

Lisanna looked at me with starry eyes. Little had I known Lucy had included her in on my little crush. Between the two it was like my love life was their own fantasy. "Plans?"

"Yes, silly. Are you going to do anything romantic? Or maybe something kind of fluffy. Oooh, you should take him out."

"Umm, we're not dating."

"But you will be!"

I wish I felt as confident as she sounded. I still got nervous every time Gray was near me. How I was going to date him was a mystery. "He doesn't think of me like that. We're just friends."

Lucy snorted at my mopey tone. Lisanna just looked more star struck. "Come on, Gray will surely fall for a guy like you."

"She's right, Natsu." Lucy commented. "You just need to assert yourself."

"Assert?"

Lisanna nodded eagerly. "Yep, just make an obvious move and he'll realize what you mean."

_What I mean?_ I watched Gray across campus storm away from Loke._ As in he'll know I just don't like him._ A small smile crept along my mouth._ I do want him to know what I meant. Now how to assert myself._

* * *

"That damn Loke!" I threw my backpack on the floor of my room when I got home. Lucky for my, Lyon wasn't here to hear my outburst. What Loke had said to me earlier had managed to get under my skin and stay there. "I do NOT like BOYS!"

* * *

"Whatcha doin'?" Happy climbed up in my lap and tried to pull my sketchbook away from me.

"Nothing." I felt a small brush creep up my cheeks at what I've been doing. "Just practicing my skills."

"Why can't I see?" Happy whined, reaching for my work.

"No reason, you just can't."

"Does this have to do with why Erza and the others we're over all weekend?"

"NO!"

"Humph," Happy was silent for a moment. "Natsu, could you get something for me?"

I eyed the feline at his sudden change in tone. "What?"

"I think I dropped something under the couch but my arms can't reach it."

I sighed. "Sure." I got up and went to go look for whatever he had dropped. I bent down and scanned under the couch. "Happy, there's nothing down here." I called.

A small giggle came in reply. "But there is here." I glanced up in time to see the blue feline running off with my sketchbook.

"Happy!" I ran after the blue cat. "Don't look at that!"

"Too late." The cat jumped onto a cabinet out of my reach. _Darn cat._ I heard another giggle as Happy flipped through the pages.

"Just don't tell anyone." I sighed as the cat continued flipping through my sketchbook.

"You llliiike Gray." Happy sang.

"I know."

"These look just like him."

I perked up at that. "Really?"

"Yep." Happy turned around the sketchpad and pointed to one of the pictures. "It looks just like him." You looked at the picture he was pointing to. It was one of my favorites of Gray smiling. "Does Gray draw pictures of you?" Happy jumped down from the cabinet and handed me my book back.

"I doubt it. He doesn't like me."

"How come?"

_How am I supposed to explain this to a cat?_ "We'll you see, boys are like girls, not boys."

"So Gray's a girl?"

"No." _How do I put this?_ "So Gray thinks of me as another guy, not as someone he can like."

"But if he did like you that would be a good thing?"

A smile formed on my face. "Absolutely."

* * *

"You're still not talking to Loke?" Lucy gave me a curious look.

"No."

"But it's already Thursday and you haven't said anything to him."

"I have nothing to say."

"Say to what?" Natsu crept up behind me.

"Nothing." I sighed.

The pinkette gave me a doubtful look at the answer. "If you say so." He immediately brightened after that. "You ready?"

"Ready for what?" Lucy asked.

"Gray's coming home with me today." Natsu announced proudly.

"Oh he is, is he?" Lucy smirked at me._ She's just as bad as Loke._

"Yep!" Natsu flung his arm around my waist and started dragging me towards his home.

"Well keep it PG." Lucy called after us.

"What's that supposed to mean!" I yelled back.

...

"Ever consider thinking more."

"What do you mean?"

I pointed to the mistake I saw on his homework. "Those two are switched."

"Oh, thanks!" Natsu scribbled something across the paper. "You overthink." He babbled.

"Hmm,"

"You're always so intent on everything. You never just wing it."

"I'm not a bird, I'm not going to wing anything."

"But you don't always have to be so conserved."

"I agree with Gray, he's not uptight."

"Thank you Happy." Granted, the cat only agreed with me because I promised to bring him a fish.

"Happy's just trying to get on your good side He's kind of a kiss up."

"I am not!" Happy fumed, only managing to get Natsu to tease him more. "I know, I'll just make fun of you to."

"You would not." Natsu almost fell out of his chair at that.

"Oh wouldn't I?" Tension built up between Natsu and the feline for a moment. A split second later they both sprinted off in the direction of the living room.

"That was odd." I mumbled. I heard a loud 'Got it!' from downstairs. Natsu rushed back nto the room and locked Happy out before the cat could get whatever 'it' was back. A sketchbook was held proudly in Natsu's hands like a trophy. "Why is that so embarrassing?"

* * *

I blinked a few times at Gray's question before I realized I was holding my book._ Oh crap._ "No-nothing." I stuttered.

"Suuure…" Gray gave me an empty look before lunging for my book. "Give it here."

"It's personal." I cried, trying to keep it out of his reach.

"Hey, you kept bugging me when I didn't like it. It's payback time." Gray tore my sketchbook out of my hand.

"Don't look at tha-"

"These are really good."_ Huh?_ I blinked in confusion for a few moments. Gray was flipping through the first few pages of my sketchbook. No wonder, those were just sketches of our friends.

"Th-thanks." I mumbled. He was getting to the part of where it was just him. "That's enough." I reached for my book back.

"Hold on a sec-"

"No!"

Gray had already turned to the very page with the sketch Happy pointed out the other night. "Na-Natsu?" Gray's face was turning dark red.

"It's not what you think!" I pleaded. "It's just,"_ What do I do?!_

Gray got up and was out the door before I could finish explaining myself. I watched his retreating back as he disappeared. Seconds later I heard the front door open and slam shut.

* * *

"You're home early." Lyon commented as I entered the house. I didn't reply. I made my way back to my room before he saw my still red face.

I fell onto my bed and pulled the covers up around me._ That damn Natsu. Why did he have a drawing of me?_ I felt my face heat up once more. The words Loke said earlier this week rang in my head._ I do not like boys. Especially Natsu._

A funny feeling started in my stomach as I thought about the pink haired boy._ It just doesn't make sense. Why would he like?_

…

Needless to say, I didn't speak to him the next day. I tried starting a few conversations but I just shot him a dark look. Though I felt my face flush each time he was near me. The funny feeling kept returning to my stomach each time too.

* * *

Gray hadn't talked to me all day. He didn't even let me apologize for yesterday. _Everything's ruined now, isn't it?_ Half-heartedly I kicked a rock down the road to my house from school.

"Where do you think you're going?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin as Gray appeared behind me. "Umm, ho-home." _He looks angry._

Gray gave me an irked look. "Well hurry up. I don't want to be stuck with you forever."

"You're still coming o-"

"Just to get our project done. After that I'm done with you."

I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. Gray was back to his cold, reserved self.

…

Gray was silent as we worked, only occasionally asking me a few questions related to the project. It felt hopeless, he wouldn't even look me in the eye. He kept his gaze down and voice harsh. Happy had left us alone, sensing the hostile tension coming from him. _I still need to explain the pictures, but… he'll just get mad._

"Look, Gray, I'm sor-"

"Don't want to hear it."

The raven didn't even look at me as I tried to apologize. Something Lisanna and Lucy said came back into my head._ I just need to assert myself._ I studied the raven for a few moments._ Now how do I do that?_

I got up from my seat and strode over to the raven. I put my hand under his chin and pulled his face up to me. He didn't even get a chance to dispute as I leaned forward.

Gray's lips were soft on my own. I felt him try to yank his head back as moved closer to him. I twined my fingers through his black hair and pulled him closer to me before he could escape. I heard a few 'mmphs' come from the raven. I wrapped my arm around him and moved onto his lap. Bringing my knees up I put my legs on both sides of him. He squirmed under me for a moment before I allowed him to pull back for air.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Asserting myself-"

"Get off of me!" Gray brought his arms up and pushed me off of him. "Gray, hold on a sec-" The raven was already out the door before I could finish.


	10. Ready When You Are

**I do not own Fairy Tail. So here's the chapter. Sorry that it's cheesy, this is the first romance I've ever written so it was sort of a hit and miss chapter. **

* * *

I slammed my bedroom door shut before Lyon could even say hi. A hand was held over my mouth, still warm from Natsu's lips._ What the hell was that idiot thinking?!_ I felt my knees go wobbly and I slid to the ground. _Why did he have to do that?_

Natsu's smiling face kept coming into my head. I held my hands on my skull in frustration. _I do not like boy. I do not like boys. I do not like bo-_

His sparky personality popped into my head.

_ I do not like boys!_

His pink hair came into my mind.

_ I do not li-_

His lively eyes came into my mind's eye.

_I do no-_

His wide smile trespassed into my thoughts.

_I…_

A lump started to form in my throat. The funny feeling I had the other day came back. It felt like I was hit by a brick wall as realization broke into my head. I broke out into a cold sweat. There was no way I was getting out of this.

_ I like Natsu…_

* * *

"Erza, please!"

I held my hands over my head for protection. The fierce scarlet stood over, delivering punishment that would make harden criminals whimper in terror. "How could you be so disgraceful? A gentleman doesn't force himself on others."

Lucy looked on helplessly from the sidelines. She mouthed _'I'm sorry'_ and gave me a weak smile. I shouldn't have told her anything. Of course if I did that Erza would find out, but I needed to know what to do. "I think he's had enough." Lucy whispered in fear.

The scarlet turned and gave the blonde a death glare. "Shall you suffer too? What was this I heard about 'asserting' yourself?"

The blonde shook in fear. "I-I didn't mean it like that."

"Bu- but Erza, Gray need to know I liked him." I sniveled. The scarlet turned back to me in fury.

"He's had enough." Loke finally spoke up. "If anything he doesn't have a chance now. You blew it, Natsu."

I hung my head. Of course I ruined it, I ruined everything. Gray was never going to talk to me again and it was my entire fault. I brushed away a tear forming in my eyes. "Thanks for everything." I mumbled.

I pushed myself up from Lucy's bed and walked towards the door. "Natsu, what are you going to do?" Lucy had the sound of concern in her voice.

"Nothing, I wrecked everything."

* * *

Natsu didn't talk to me at school on Monday. The rosy haired teen kept his distance from me. _Is he going to leave for good?_ I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He had his head down, keeping eye contact from me.

He didn't even come near me. Every time he saw me he put as much space between us as he could._ Aren't I the one who's supposed to be distant?_ It felt like my heart was breaking. He didn't even give his cheerful smile to anyone today.

_ Please be okay._

…

* * *

I saw Gray at school. He had the same emotionless expression that he had when I first met him._ He must hate me._ I kept my distance. I didn't want him running again; it was too painfully the last two times. He never came up to me to yell for what I did. He probably didn't even bother to look at me.

_I don't deserve to have his attention._

I buried my head into my arms. I felt a small tugging on my legs and knew it was Happy. The blue cat had been worried all weekend. I had hardly eaten, haven't even bother to talk to him the past few days. I mostly stayed in bed with my door locked.

"Natsu," The small cat sounded like he was going to cry. "Please don't be sad."

I didn't say anything for what felt like a lifetime. Hesitantly I reached out and petted his soft, blue fur. "Don't worry about me. It's just heartbreak."

* * *

I stared at the ceiling of my room. My heart tightened as my thoughts rolled over a certain boy on my mind. His soft, pink colored hair. Those kind black as night eyes. That bright and energetic smile he hasn't worn for me today.

I rolled over and pulled a pillow over my head, trying to get the thoughts out of my head. _He's just Natsu_.

A wave of guilt washed over me at the thought.

_ But he's my Natsu._

…

It was the same routine the next day. He didn't come near me. Didn't wave or say hi. Just moved away from me when he saw me. His blithe grin was still missing from his features. My heart squeezed in pain at that.

_ I can't take it anymore._

* * *

I was slowly starting to make my way back home. Everything around me had started to become grey and dull to my senses. I felt something warm grip my shoulder.

"Can we talk?"

A wave of dread came onto me. I didn't even have to look at who the hand belonged to. _He's finally come to tell me to disappear._ I gave a small nor in response. The raven led me to a small park, the very one I had tried confessing to him at.

* * *

I locked my eyes firmly on Natsu's, not letting his gaze break away. _How do I do this._ "Look, Natsu, about the other day," The pinkette looked like he was about to start tearing up. "It's just, that…" Small tears were forming in his eyes.

"Please don't cry." I reached out and pulled Natsu's body and crushed it against my own. I wrapped my arms around him, trying to comfort him.

"Ga- Gray?"

"Please don't cry. It's a crime to see you sad. Just smile, okay?"

I pulled away from him. He gave me another small nod. "The other day… I sort of overreacted. I'm not mad at you."

His eyes brightened at that. "Really?" His smile started to return.

"Really." His smile broke out fully. "It's just," I looked down at the ground nervously. "it happened so fast, and…" I took in a deep breath. "Can we maybe go a little slower?"

Natsu froze, only maaaging to blink a few times. "We? As in…"

I nodded sheepishly. "I really like you too. I'm just… not ready t-"

Natsu wrapped his arms around me. "Yes, just tell me when you're ready."

I nodded, a little shocked. "Jus- just not too fast. I'm not used to the idea yet."


	11. Couples

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Nice to see you two getting along." Lucy smirked.

I couldn't help but feel the blush creeping along my cheeks. "Yeah, well…" I stopped, not really knowing what to say.

Natsu grinned next to me. "You're cute when you're nervous." My blush went deeper. Natsu squeezed my hand under the table.

"Took you long enough though." Loke teased. If it was possible for me to turn ten shades of red I did. Loke had seen Natsu and I walk off the other day. So of course, not allowed to have any private time, he dragged Lucy along to eavesdrop. Which is why Lucy will now not stop joking with me. It was also why Erza forbid us to be alone, saying it was irresponsible to leave couples alone too long, in case they start making inappropriate gestures. Not that I was ready for any of that.

"Aw, leave him alone. It's my job to tease him." Natsu joked, pulling towards him.

"Natsu," I whined. "People will see us." The pinkette smiled down at me and ruffled my hair affectionately.

"When are you two going on your first date?" Erza spoke up.

"It should be something extremely romantic." Lucy went off on a list of romantic fantasies.

"Da-date?" I stuttered nervously. I've never been on a date. What you were supposed to do on one was a complete mystery to me.

Lucy stopped babbling and nodded. "Yep, all couples go on dates."

"But…"

Loke chuckled at me. "Looks like our little Gray is a little scared." He gave me a wink. Sure, he could joke about this. He was the King of Flirtation. "Don't worry, at least we got one of you trained."

"Trained?" I raised an eyebrow at Natsu for an explanation.

"They made me take classes." The pinkette shivered as he said it. Erza gave him one of her supercilious looks.

* * *

"Hey Happy!" I yelled into the almost empty house.

"Natsuuu." The blue feline an up to me. He had reverted to his cheery self after I stopped acting so gloomy.

"Hey buddy." I lifted the cat up and hugged him. "Wanna go somewhere real quick?"

"Really?" the cat looked at me hopefully. It wasn't often he got to leave the house. I nodded. "Yay!" the feline climbed onto the top of my head.

* * *

"Hmm," I looked up to the grey colored sky. A few snowflakes fell into my open palm. _Winter already?_ I stood frozen for a moment, enjoying the tranquil setting of the fresh fallen snow. Winter was by far my favorite season. I had lived up north before my mom died and my siblings and I moved down here. The city of Magnolia was usually pretty warm so I never had the chance to relish the cold weather I had grown up in._ Just like old times._

I cast one final smile to the darkening sky before moving on.

* * *

"What are you looking for?" Happy asked from his position on my head.

"Hmm, couples I guess."

"Couples?"

I nodded the tiniest bit so the cat wouldn't fall off. "I'm looking for ideas for what to do with Gray."

Happy giggled at that. "You liiiike him." He sang. "Isn't it customary for someone to take the other out?"

"Yeah…" I scratched the back of my head in thought. "But the question is, where do they go? What do they do? Do they enjoy it?" I babbled on for a while before Happy hit my head to get me to shut up.

"When's the date?"

I shrugged. "We don't have anything planned."

"So why are you worrying?"

"Because we'll go out somewhere eventually."

"Why don't you just ask him what you two should do?"

"According to Lucy you're supposed to have everything planned out."

"Why are you taking advice from Lucy? Has she ever had a date?"

I stopped in my tracks. "Good point."

"There's a couple." The cat pointed his tail in the direction he spoke of. A man and women were walking down the road, holding hands. "Over there too." He pointed in another direction. A couple was in a local shop, sharing ice cream.

The beginning of small plans began forming in my mind. _It's a start._

* * *

"I'm home."

Lyon didn't bother to glance up as I entered the small home, only grunting in response. He poured over the letter in front of him. Sighing, I left him alone. There was no point in distracting the older male when he had a concentrated look on his face. I opened the door of my room and flopped onto my bed.

_I wonder what Natsu's doing right now._

…

* * *

"Interesting."

I watched as a couple walked down the street. The man had his arm wrapped around the women's waist. Silently, I pictured myself doing that with Gray. "Say, Happy," The feline looked up from the fish he was nibbling on. "Why do you think couples always hold each other and stuff?"

The cat shrugged his small shoulders. "Don't know. Cause they can, I guess."

"Hmm." Another couple hugged each other. _That looks like fun._ "So now that we're together, do you think I can hug Gray freely?"

"Didn't you already do that?"

The cat had a point. "I got it!" I pounded my fist in my palm to show that I meant it. The cat looked at me in curiosity. "I know exactly what to do when I got out with Gray in a few days."

…

* * *

…

"Hi Gray." Lucy waved at me from our lunch table. Smiling, I sat down along with her and Erza.

"Hi." I cast a small smile to the blonde and scarlet.

"You're smiling at someone other than me?"

I jumped as the pinkette snuck up behind me. Natsu gave me one of his warm smiles and slid in the seat beside me. Lucy laughed at me as I calmed down a bit. Natsu gave her a wide grin and pulled me close to him, causing the blonde the laugh harder.

"Na-Natsu…" I still wasn't completely used to the idea of liking someone, especially the pink haired teen. So him being so open with everyone was a little unexpected.

"Aw, Gray's still a little shy." Lucy teased.

"Am not!" I challenged.

Natsu pulled me in closer, ignoring my protest I gave him. "But he's _my_ shy Gray."

"I am nobody's, I belong to myself." Though I felt a blush heating my face at the my part.

"You're telling me Gray isn't my pet anymore?" Loke added, coming up to us.

"Since when was I your pet?!"

"Stop teasing him, that's my job." Natsu shot the orange haired a playful look.

"At what point did I become the one who got ignored?"

No one answered me, evidently, I wasn't exaggerating. "I always thought Gray as a little brother." Erza claimed. "Which is why," she pointed a finger at Natsu. "If you hurt him you're suffer my wrath." It's amazing how fast the scarlet's mood can change.

Natsu shivered at her declaration. "I won't." He promised. The scarlet eyed him for a bit before resuming her earlier composure.

"So when are you going on your date?" Lucy looked at me curiously.

_So I only get asked questions when it's for her daily gossip._ I shrugged. "We don't have anything planned. After all, we spend a lot of time together anyway."

"He's right. Even today he's coming home with me."

"What?" The scarlet went back to her terrifying state. "What is this about you two being alone together?"

"But it doesn't count if you're working on something." Lucy mumbled as Natsu tried reassuring the scarlet it was completely innocent.

"You think of it that way if you want sweetheart." Loke told the blonde. "Either way Natsu is getting _free time _with Gray."

I heard whimpers come from Natsu as Erza began showing him the fear of her wrath. "Alone time?"

Lucy and Loke blinked at me in surprise. The orange haired teen threw his head back suddenly, laughing hard. "Um, Gray." Lucy shifted uncomfortably. "You do know that couples tend to spend time together to do stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Cuddle… and hug and…"

"Just say it, Lucy." Loke interrupted the blonde. Lucy turned red in response. "She's talking about making out."

A small yelp came from Natsu as Erza tortured him as she heard Loke's words. A halfway heard I think her heard her threaten 'no one's groping him,' but I wasn't sure. "Ma-make out? As in kiss?"

Loke rolled his eyes. "What else would it imply?"

"Bu-but…"

Natsu looked at me, sensing my nervousness. "Gray doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to." I sighed in relief at his words. Though somewhat embarrassed at having Natsu defend me.

…

"Have you even done anything?"

Natsu played with my hair as I scolded him. "About what?"

I groaned. "Our project. I'm not here just to amuse you, you know."

"But you're fun to play with." He whined.

"How have you made it this far in life?"

Natsu pouted a little at my criticism. "Cause I'm cute. That seems to work out pretty well on me."

"That doesn't work on everything."

"Worked on you." Couldn't argue with that. The pinkette folded his arms around my waist and snuggled close to me. For someone so determined at times it was amazing how gentle he was. "Used to it yet?" He muttered in my ears.

"No," I breathed out.

"Can I make you used to it?"

I shot him a funny look. Natsu looked at me, a mixture of innocence and mischievousness on his face. He leaned in close to me and lightly kissed my jawline. "Na- Natsu…" My face turned red as he nuzzled my neck.

"Hmm."

He hummed next to me. He reached up and pecked my blushing cheek. "I-I'm still not sure I'm rea-" The pulled my down so my head lay on his chest.

"I know." The pinkette leaned back and softly stroked my hair. "It's fun to hold you though." I resigned and let him keep his arms around me.

My eyes traveled around his room as his fingers ran through my hair. Green, bright, numbers caught my eye. "Oh crap." I sat up suddenly, breaking from his embrace. I must have lost track of time at some point. "I need to go." What? Lyon gave me a curfew and I wasn't going to break.

"Want me to walk you home?" Natsu offered.

I shook my head. "Nah. You'll just have to walk back here." Natsu did walk me to the door though. He gave me a final, quick hug before I left.


	12. Teasing

**I**** do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Would you stop it?!"

I gritted my teeth in frustration as Loke poked me in the side repeatedly. "Aw, is my little Gray annoyed?"

"_You're _little Gray?"

Loke continued poking me in the side. "Maybe if you said please." He teased.

"Or tell us what happened." Lucy had her head in her hand. Her big brown eyes looked at me expectantly.

"We just cuddled." I blushed.

"Come on, Gray, give me more than that." The blonde begged.

"Go pester someone else."

* * *

I watched as Lucy teased Gray. His blush kept returning to his soft, pale face. I couldn't help but smile each time I saw it. "He's right, Lucy." I spoke up. "He wouldn't let me do anything else." Luc pouted a little, muttering something about Gray and I being boring.

Erza gave her nod of approval. Murmuring something about Gray and I being appropriate. "But you haven't even had your first kiss!" Lucy declared

"Have to." I retorted.

"When?"

"Last week."

"You mean when you 'asserted' yourself."

I saw Gray turn bright red at Lucy's words. "Does that not count?"

"No. A first kiss has to be something romantic. Not one person doing forcing themselves on another."

Loke smirked. "Looks like Natsu hasn't _really_ kissed Gray."

"I kissed him." I protested.

"Did he kiss you back?"

* * *

A feeling of dread overcame me at Lucy's words. Something told me the blonde was up to something I didn't want to know about. "Well, umm… no." Natsu shifted uncomfortably.

"Then Gray should kiss you right now!"

I gawked at the blonde. What had to go through her mind to let her think I'd do that. "Bu-bu- but, we-"

"No buts." Lucy pointed an accusing finger at me. "Do it."

I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. There was no way in hell I was going to kiss anybody while still on campus. The last thing I needed was to be teased about Natsu. Nor was I going to be on display for everyone.

Lucy gave me her mischievous grin. "You haven't had your first _real _kiss. It's all been Natsu. You need to contribute too."

"Gray doesn't have to kiss me in front of everyone." Natsu spoke up. It's really nice that he understands my nervousness.

"Still," Loke moved up to me. "Gray never has kissed anyone back. Maybe if Natsu won't be your first will kiss, I will."

My eyes widened as Loke pulled my chin up to him. The other teen looked at me for a moment before leaning in. I was too shocked to move.

"That's enough!" Natsu grabbed my wrist and pulled me away before Loke leaned too far in. "We'll be going now." The pinkette dragged me off. I heard Lucy's laughter behind me.

* * *

I watched as Loke smirked at Natsu's and Gray's backs. Erza rolled her eyes and left, grumbling something about us needing to stop dallying. "How was that?" Loke grinned at me.

"Perfect." No doubt Natsu would get jealous. This was going to be fun.

"Did you talk to him?"

I nodded. "He agreed to do it. We should have the evidence tomorrow." A smile spread across my face at what would await Gray and Natsu when we saw them again on Monday.

* * *

"You wouldn't have kissed Loke, would you?"

I rolled my eyes at his question. "Of course not, he's a pervert."

Natsu let out a sigh. "That's a relief."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You didn't actually think I would, did you?"

Natsu scratched the back of his head nervously. "No… it's just… I don't like other people touching you." He grumbled the last part quietly.

I slipped my hand into his. "Are you jealous?" I teased.

Natsu turned his head away from me. "No, I'm just don't think you sh-"

"You are jealous." I insisted.

"Why shouldn't I be?!" Natsu snapped. "Loke is one thing, but if it had been any other guy I don-"

I took my hand from his and slipped my arm around his waist. "You're cute when you're jealous."

Natsu sighed and pulled me in for a hug. "Cute enough for you to kiss me?" I wrinkled my nose at him. He let out a low chuckle and leaned his forehead against mine. "I'll take that as a no." He buried his head into my hair.

"I didn't say it was a no."

Natsu looked up from my hair into my eyes. He blinked a few times in surprise. He gave me a look of both hope and want. Cautiously he leaned forward a bit before his lips were a few centimeters away from mine.

"Didn't say yes either."

I pulled away from the stunned teen. Natsu stared at me in stupefied. I gave him one of my smirks and walked on my way home.

"Graaaayyy! That was mean!"

I laughed as he called after me. He ran up behind me and grabbed my waist, keeping me from going on. "Natsuuuuuu, let go." I teased.

The pinkette buried his head in my lower back. "Not until you say you're sorry for teasing me."

"I'm sorry." I giggled.

"No you're not, you have to make it up to me."

"How do you propose I do that?"

Natsu looked up at me. "Don't know, but you need to."

"I think I got an idea."

I took Natsu's hand back in my own and led him to the park near the school. "What are you doing?" Natsu asked me.

"You'll see."

I led him to the exact spot he tried to tell me he liked me, but I was too clueless to get. I spun around and faced him. "For all the times I ignored you."

I leaned in a little bit until my lips rested firmly on Natsu's. He froze for a second. Slowly he leaned into the kiss. I pressed forward a bit and twined my arms around him. Natsu moved his hands so one rested on my lower back. The other was gripping my raven hair between its fingers.

Moving my mouth I moved my tongue slowly across his lower lip. Natsu opened his mouth part way. Instead of slipping in I chose to bite down on his lower lip. The pinkette let out a low moan and gripped me close to him.

Natsu moved his mouth to cover mine. He pushed against my sealed lips with his tongue, parting them.

I pulled back before he could try anything else.

"I think I've made it up to you."

I spun back around and walked away from. Natsu protested behind, complaining about my teasing him every chance I had. I waved back at him.

* * *

I watched as Gray walked away from me. My lips still felt warm from our kiss._ Our first real kiss._ My face heated up at the thought. Gray was really something.

…

* * *

…

My kiss with Natsu was still fresh on my mind. A bit dazed I entered the house, vaguely aware of everything around me.

"Hi Lyon. Hi Ultear." I waved as I made my way to my room.

_ Wait a minute._

I backtracted to the living room where Lyon and someone else was sitting.

"Ultear?!"

The other smirked at me. "Nice to see you too,_ little brother."_


	13. On Display

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Any of you guys write something with Ultear. It's actually a lot of fun, you get to make all evil and mischievous. Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

Here's the thing about my sister.

My older sister Ultear is a lovable, polite lady. She can be high and mighty at times but she can also be very compassionate. Even though she didn't stay with us all those years back she never exactly left either. She's very family oriented and bold to the point of making those who doesn't know uncomfortable. She was the kid at school who never got in trouble and teachers love. She was even valedictorian when she graduated. Overall, she was the poster child for what girls should be.

She's also an advocate for the devil.

So you can understand my happiness and nervousness at seeing her. "Ul-Ultear," I stuttered, pulling away from her hug.

She ruffled my hair like I was five years old. "Is that anyway to greet your sister?" Her tone was both mocking and playfully, something that only she could pull off.

I smiled at her. Even after months from last seeing her she still was the same old, patronizing sister I loved. "What are you doing here?" (The past few months she had been up north on her job. Some boring scientist position in which she measured the temperature of ice every day.)

"Winter blizzards were getting pretty bad already. If I didn't come home now I'd be stuck up there, waiting on the train tracks to clear."

"So are you staying here?"

Lyon nodded. "She'll be living with us for now on."

Ultear gave me another smirk. "Be afraid, little brother, be very afraid."

…

* * *

…

"Do you have them?"

I watched in excitement as the blue feline struggled to get to the top of my window sill. Loke rolled his eyes beside me at how giddy I was.

Happy jumped off the window sill and waddled up to me, caring an envelope in his paws. "Yep, it's all right here."

I squealed and went to take the envelope from the cat. Happy moved it out of my reach. "What? Give me the pictures already!"

"Where's my part of the deal?"

Loke sighed and handed the blue feline a package he had brought with him. I winkled my nose at the smell. "Yay!" Happy exclaimed, opening the package to find fish inside,

I grabbed the envelope from the now satisfied cat. Another squeal escaped me as I ripped it open and poured over the contents. Thesse were by far, the absolute best photographs I had ever seen in my life.

"Happy, these are perfect." I praised the cat.

Loke took one picture from my hand and nodded his approval. "Top notch."

"I thought so." Happy added between his nibbling on fish. "I tried getting different angles but it was hard without them noticing me."

"It doesn't matter. These are amazing." My eyes brightened at the pictures. How I couldn't wait till I saw the both of the picture's subjects on Monday.

* * *

"You two are animals."

Ultear watched in slight disgust as Lyon and I woofed down the breakfast she just finished making. "No, we're just guys." I retorted.

"How have you two made it this far in life?"

"Well you see," Lyon pointed a finger to himself, "I'm good looking so everything works out for me. Gray here," he pointed a finger at me, "survives on his abilities to manipulate others into thinking they like him."

"Thinking? People like me for me."

Ultear rolled her eyes. "You two are unbelievable."

* * *

"Happppyyy." I whined, searching for the cat.

My whole Saturday was pretty boring. Lucy and Loke both said they were doing something and I couldn't tag along. Spending time with Erza was out, she was too scary to be alone with. Gray didn't come over like he said he might. I guess something came up.

Then my own cat abandoned me.

What cat abandons their best friend? I've raised that darn cat and this is the thanks I get? There was no way he was getting fish this weekend.

…

* * *

…

"There he is."

Lucy smirked at me as I entered the classroom the following Monday. Something in her expression told me I didn't want to know what happened. "Umm, hi?"

"Gray, get out of here."

I looked over at who had spoken. Natsu had his head between his hands with a look of defeat on his face. "Why would I le-"

"These are just too cute." Lisanna laughed, looking at something out of my eyesight.

Erza nodded to that. "Agreed, even if it was inappropriate."

That can't be good. I leaned over to look at what all the girls were staring at. Lucy grabbed what looked to be a photograph out of my reach before I could. "What? Let me see it."

The blonde held it out of my reach. Loke came up behind her and grabbed the picture from her. "Who would have guessed it? Our little Gray knows how to please."

"What are you talking about?"

Loke held the picture just out of my reach. "Maybe if you say please."

"Give it here."

Loke handed the picture off to Cana and Bisca. The two girls let out a laugh. "Aw, Gray looks so cute." Cana commented.

"Let me see." Levy looked over from another table. "Awwww, that's so sweet."

"What the hell is it?!"

"You don't want to know." Natsu muttered. Under his breath he added, "Damn cat." Whatever that meant.

To say I was getting annoyed would be an understatement. Lucy had another picture in her hand. In a flash I ripped it from the blonde's hands and looked at it.

My heart dropped.

Natsu had his fingers twined in my hair, his other hand rested on my lower back. My arms were thrown around him in an embrace. Our lips were pressed together, clearly visible in the picture.

"Wh-where di-did you," Something Natsu said clicked in my head. Damn cat.

"Don't be like that, Gray." Lucy batted her eye lashed at me. "It's just a little picture."

I stood there stunned for a moment. Without warning I jumped over to where Cana was and grabbed the picture she had from her. Erza had one in her hand but only for a split second longer. Loke rolled his eyes at me. "You really think we didn't make copies?"

"Why would you want this?!"

"It's cuuuuuute." Lucy purred. "Plus, now so many people know about you two."

"You didn't have to showcase us!" The blonde laughed. She _laughed._ "This isn't funny! Who did you show?!"

"Just about everyone."

"Who would have guessed pinky would have a sweetheart. Geehee."

I jumped at the person who had snuck up behind me. "Nobody asked for your opinion!" Natsu snapped at the person behind me.

Gajeel smirked at him. "What's the matter, pinky? Don't like it when people see you with your little sweetie." Natsu grabbed Gajeel by his collar and looked like he was about to hit him.

_This is getting out of hand._ I pulled Natsu away from the other teen. "He's not worth it."

"How manly, just let your little girlfriend take care of you."

Natsu snapped and grabbed Gajeel by his shirt. "Bastard."

"I'm not a girl." I muttered under my breath. "This is all your fault." I turned accusingly to Lucy.

The blonde put her innocent face on. "I was just getting you to be more open." This is why girls are pure evil.

"Can my day get any worse?" I slumped down in a chair and buried my face in my arms, trying to block out all the comments from the girls as went over the pictures again and again.

…

* * *

This is what I get for listening to Lyon.

At what point I stared listening to my younger brother I have no idea. But the damn moron had my running errands for him. I dodged the busy crowd as I worked my way through town. Students from the high school must have just gotten out; though Gray said he had to do something after school and wouldn't be home for a while.

"I'm just saying, I think Gray we should trick Gray into doing it in front of everyone."

Speak of the devil.

I eavesdropped on a conversation and blonde girl and an orange haired guy were having. "He looks really cute when he kisses someone." Wait a minute, they have to be talking about someone else. _My_ brother _kissing_ someone. That sounded nothing like him.

The orange haired guy nodded. "If he would stop being so damn shy," That sounded like my brother, "maybe we could really pull something off. Natsu isn't really the problem here.

An evil grin made its way across my face. This was just too perfect. My little brother was off kissing people without him telling Lyon or I. Even better, he was off with a boy, I wonder if it's the same one he said he had to do something with. Oh, this was going to be fun.

* * *

"Stop distracting me."

"But it's so much fun."

Natsu snuggled up to me. His pink hairs were tickling my nose. "You're a lot of work."

"Who's a lot of work?"

Happy walked into the room. He was smiling an oblivious smile. Natsu and I blinked at him. "Damn cat!" Natsu and I jumped simultaneously at the feline. Happy let out a small yelp and fled the room, the two of us hot on his trail.

* * *

"Why are you smiling?" Lyon gave me a suspicious look.

"Wait till you hear this."

…

"He did what?!"

* * *

"You don't have to walk me all the way home."

"Yes I do." Natsu swung our clasped hands together back and forth. It amazes me how playfully he seemed at the slightest actions.

"I live on the other side of town. Besides, you still need to get payback at Happy for me."

Natsu gave me a little pout. "You're just trying to get rid of me."

"Am not, I'm almost home anyway."

"Fine, but I'm walking you home one day." The pinkette gave me a kissed on the cheek and turned back to walk to his own home.

…

I turned the doorknob to the small house. Lyon was sitting on the couch watching me as I entered. He had a mask of repugnance on. "What's this about you flaunting yourself off to strange men?"

Ultear gave me a smirk and for the second time today my heart fell.


	14. Lyon's Ignored Prohibition

**I do not own Fairy Tail, if I did there would be more fish for Happy in it. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Lyon, I-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Lyon snapped.

I let out a sigh in defeat. After mom died Lyon never let me do anything that could be considered _bad,_ even if he himself often broke the rules on numerous occasions. In short, he was the over protective sibling. Hell, you could call him a control freak if you wanted to. I knew, Ultear knew, so what better way to make your brother miserable than to make him have a lecture from an unhearing guardian. After all, what are loving siblings for if not to make your life miserable.

"If you would just let me expla-"

"There's nothing to explain. Here I tell you to not get in trouble. Yet you're out there _servicing_ men. No little brother of mine is going to be off working in prostitution."

"I'm not a prostitute!" I snapped. "This is just a misundersta-"

"About what?! About your harlotry work? Damn Gray, you're too young to even _think_ about fraternizing with that in mind. What even gave you the idea to listen to someone who wants to touch you? Now who the hell has been deflowering you?!"

"No one's been deflowering me!" Ultear smirked at me from behind Lyon's back. What is with all the girls I know in my life and wanting to make my life deplorable? Honestly, I don't think the fact I kissed a guy had to do with anything. It was probably Lyon just over reacting again.

"The why won't you tell me who's been touching you!"

"Stop acting like I was forced or paid. Did you ever stop to think I _wanted_ to kiss them?"

"So now you're saying you enjoy it when people use you?"

"No one is using me for anything!"

"Damn right they're not. Not anymore. Now tell us why you've gone flirting about with every one you meet."

"What do you mean everyone I meet? I don't talk to anyone. It was just one guy!"

"So you admit to having intercourse with someone!"

"Who said anything about intercourse?! I'm noting sleeping with anyone!"

"Dammit Gray, what the hell were you thinking?! You having coitus is not a game. It's serious, we'll lose you for this!"

"Will you listen for me for two damn seconds!" I snapped.

"Okay, this has gone on long enough." Ultear placed a hand on my shoulder in a patronizing manner. "You really think Gray could be selling himself like that? He doesn't even know what a man would want from him." Damn woman, only stepping in after she's had her fun.

"What are you talking abou-"

"He's not a harlot." Ultear rolled her eyes at Lyon. "He's just gay."

My face turned bright red. Lyon gave an uncomfortable cough. "I kind of figured that. There had to be a reason who only sold himself to men."

"I didn't sell myself to anyone." I let out a groan. Lyon could be so thickheaded sometimes. "It was just a few kisses."

"Who did you kiss Gray?" Ultear gave me another smirk. "If I heard right his name was Natsu, is that right?"

How did she know that? "I… umm, I…"

"Is that true Gray? Is this Natsu of yours abusive of you and what you can give him?"

"For the last time, I am not having sex with anyone!" Geez Lyon, learn to listen.

"But he is a strange boy, correct."

"He's not strange." Who was I kidding, I'm talking about Natsu. "At least not in the sense as I don't know him." I mumbled the last part.

"So how do you know him?"

"He's my… friend."

"You make out with your friends?" Lyon growled.

"He's my… boyfriend." I kept my eyes low, not wanting to see Lyon's reaction.

"Alright…" Lyon mumbled slowly. "If that's the case, I want him over sometime this week so I can approve of him. Until then I forbid you talk to him."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all. He's going to come over and meet Ultear and I. Only after he has both our approval may you see him in the sense of a 'boyfriend' relationship."

I let out a sigh in relief. At least Lyon no longer thought I was a trollop.

...

I pulled on Natsu's sleeve to get his attention. The pinkette spun around and flashed me one of his stunning smiles. "Hiya."

"Hey." I smiled back, darn he had a cute grin. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Course."

"Can you come over to my house this week to meet my family?"

Natsu's eyes went wide. "Really? You want me to meet you family." The pinkette started to bounce on his heels. "I finally get to meet your family? You're not kidding, right?"

"No, and don't be so happy about it."

Natsu stopped his bouncing. "Why? Do you not want me to meet them?"

"No, it's not that." My words came out in a rush at seeing his hurt expression. "It's just… My brother's really strict and he wants to 'approve' you, for lack of a better word. He isn't exactly thrilled to know about you."

"Oh…" Natsu seemed a little down at that. "In that case," he perked up, "I just have to make him like me."

"I wish it was that easy." I grumbled. Lyon was like me when meeting people. Neither of us likes them at first. If his first impression of Natsu was anything like mine, I have a feeling Natsu wouldn't be allowed me for a while. Or eternity.

"When should I come over?" His question napped me out of my negative thoughts.

"Whatever time you feel like meeting your end, feel free."

"Wait… you said family, as in more than just your brother?"

I nodded. "My sister's back in town. You'll be meeting her too."

"Your sister?! Is she anything like you?" Natsu had an excited look.

"She's a mixture of Lucy's devious side and Erza when she hasn't had her cake."

Natsu froze. "I'm not sure I want to meet her anymore…"

…

* * *

"Haaaaaaaappy," I sang, entering my home.

The feline came bounding from upstairs, jumping into my arms. "Natsu!" he cried. His face was smiling, probably at the thought that I wasn't yelling at him anymore for the pictures he took.

"Hey buddy. You wanna help me out with something?"

"Are we going fishing?"

"No."

"Oh," the cat looked less interested. "Do I have to?"

"You just have to tell me what you liked about me when you first meet me."

"That's easy. I liked everything."

"What specifically?"

"All of it." I groaned. If I had any chance at making a spectacular first impression was going to need professional help.

* * *

"We're walking on eggshells here." Lyon gritted out through his teeth.

Mr. Lahar checked a list of requirements of his clipboard. The higher up had a smug grin on his face, giving the three of us a feeling of despair. "So do we pass?" Ultear batted her eyelashes at the man, trying to get the answer he refused to tell Lyon or me.

It worked. "No." Apparently not well enough.

"Why not?" Lyon demanded.

"If I recall, the custody permit allows you two to live together. It says nothing about her." Lahar pointed his pen to Ultear.

"What are you talking about?" She scoffed. "The family clause in the document al-"

"You don't have a right to argue. As far as I'm concerned you have no proof that you're family. You're just someone living illegally under the same roof as a minor."

"What do you mean we're not family?! You've known us for years, of course we're rela-"

"That is no concern of mine. As far as I care, I have a small case starting to build up against you capability of raising a minor." With that Mr. Lahar walked out the door.

"This is bullshit. If he actually cared about that he wouldn't have left me here with you two."

Lyon nodded. "He's just trying to get the judge to rule against us."

"What are we going to do? If he comes back before I get duel custody…"

"I'll make a few calls." Lyon suggested. "It's extremely short noticed but maybe if I beg a little I could get the papers by tomorrow. Obaa from the home tends to get things done. I'll start with her."

"I'll make a few calls of my own." Ultear muttered. With that the two left me alone, leaving me feeling completely useless as they did all the work for something that was my problem.

…

* * *

"It's all about the greeting." Erza coached. "From the first moment you speak you need to be cool, collected, and the image of politeness personified."

"How do I do that?"

"You can't." Lucy grumbled. "You're going to blow it. The only way Gray's brother iis going to like you is if you're not you."

"Have you ever met him?"

"No, but if he's anything like Gray I don't need to."

"I believe I greeted him once." Erza thought back on past memories. "He was at parent teacher night once for Gray. He seemed nice at the time."

"Lyon? He's not as bad as he seems. You'll probably like him." Loke spoke up.

"You met him?" I eyed the orange head.

"A few times when I was hanging out with Gray. He was pretty cool when he was our age, sort of wild."

"I wouldn't bring that up." Gray mentioned, coming up to our group.

I cast him one of my smiles. "Wild, huh? Nothing like you."

"I could be wild if I wanted."

"Suuuure." I droned. "While you're at it you could be fun too."

Gray smacked the back of my head. "I'm fun. I'm just not overly insane with my actions. Unlike a certain pink head I know."

"It's salmon!"

Gray gave me one of his laughs. Wow, he had a cute laugh. "You know, if you get Ultear's approval that would probably be enough."

"How do I do that?"

"You sell your soul."

"I could do that."

* * *

"Are you doing well with your prohibition of your _boyfriend?"_ Ultear teased, briefly glancing up from a document she was looking through.

"Sure, I'm not talking to him at _all."_

Ultear gave one of her dry laughs. "Can't wait till I get to meet the guy that, as Lyon put it, deflowered you."

"That's not what happened and you know it." I plopped down in a chair next to her.

"So someone else did it?" She teased.

"Yep, now I do it with every man I find."

"Ha, like you would even talk to someone long enough for that. Besides, we both know you only do it on street corners at night." See, she can joke with me when she wants. It just isn't often.

"You're not going to say anything against him, right?"

"Who? You're boyfriend? Probably not, if anything I'll try to get him to kiss you in front of Lyon."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Who knows, maybe I can even convince Lyon he's the prostitute."


	15. Permission

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Here's my question, does no on like Ultear? She's so much fun. Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

"Would you stop fussing?" Natsu gave me an annoyed look as I tried to tame his unruly locks.

"I'm just trying to make you look neat." I grumbled. After a few more moments of fighting the tangles I gave up. "Just make sure you're polite…and kind… and urbane, and civ-"

"I get it." Natsu rolled his eyes. "I doubt he'll be as bad as you think he'll be."

"Wanna bet."

Natsu gave me one last irked look and took my hand in his. "You worry too much." He gave my hand a little squeezed as I began to lead him to my house. "Anything I should do or not do?"

"Yeah," I scratched the back of my head nervously. "Don't say anything that could be considered dubious under authority. Or for that matter, anything that doesn't answer a question he asks you."

"You look nervous."

"I am." Natsu moved his hand from mine and wrapped it around my waist. We walked in silence for a few minutes before my house, long last, came into view. "Let's get this over with." I mumbled.

* * *

Gray jiggled the lock on the front door open. A warm feeling of excitement ran through me. Despite Gray being nervous, I was really happy. I finally got to meet his siblings, even if his brother didn't end up liking me.

"We're here." Gray called into the house, pulling me inside.

A girl a few years older than me looked up and glanced at us. She had long raven hair, the color of Gray's, except hers had a sort of purplish tint to it. She grinned at me. "So this is the guy who got my little brother to come out of his shell."

"Natsu, this is my sister Ultear."

I stuck my out to her. "Hiya." I greeted. Ultear reached out and shook my waiting hand. "You're not as scary as Gray made you out to be."

Gray let out a sort of choking noise. Ultear gave him a devious smirk. "Is that so? What exactly has he said about me?"

"That you're a demon." Gray mumbled under his breath.

"Who's a demon?"

I looked up at who had spoken. A man a bit older than me entered the room. His silver hair spiked upwards, save the few strands overhanging his forehead. _This must be Gray's brother._ "Hi." I reached out my hand for him as I had done Ultear. The older male glared at me a few moments, not saying anything.

Gray cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "This would be Lyon. Lyon, this is Natsu."

"It's nice to meet you." I tried. Lyon gave me a look both despot and disgusted.

…

Lyon sat across from me, giving me a look of hatred. For the past hour it felt like a never ending interrogation from him. He never cracked a smile, just glared at me. Gray exaggerating about his brother, he was fastidious.

"You didn't answer the question."

I squirmed in my seat as his eyes bore into me. "My intentions towards Gray… is to make him happy."

"Why do you think you need to do that?"

You just couldn't win with Lyon. Every time you answered a question he'll ask you another. When he asked me how I was doing academically, (to prove I wasn't a loafer) I had said fine, he asked why not fantastic. You just couldn't please him.

"I don't believe I do. Gray's happy already. I meant I don't have any ill intentions for him."

"What gave you the idea it was okay to court him."

See, one question after another. "Well… I really like Gray so I just wan-"

"So it was out of your own selfish want."

No! I wouldn't do that to him. It was becau-"

"You're not very considerate, are you?"

Gray dropped his head on the table with a loud thud. He had been listening to the two of us for the past hour, trying to back me up, though Lyon didn't listen to him. The raven had given up after the first few ties.

"Well I like him." Ultear spoke up. "

"Well I don't." Lyon said openly. "I refuse to let you fraternize with Gray any longer."

My heart dropped to my feet. "Bu-"

"Don't listen to him." Ultear interrupted. "He's just paternalistic. You two are fine going out."

I grinned at her. "Tha-"

"No it's not." Lyon interjected. "I'm legal guardian, what I say goes."

Ultear glared at the white haired male. "As I recall, I signed a document yesterday giving me dual custody. My vote weighs just as much as yours."

"Then it's okay!" Gray perked up. He grabbed my wrist and started pulling to the door. "Thanks for meeting each other, great talk, all that jazz." Under his breath for my ears only he added, "Get out of here before they start arguing."

Lyon grumbled something. The last thing I heard before Gray pulled the front door open and dragged me outside was Ultear saying something along the lines of "It will be good for him."

* * *

I slammed the door shut behind Natsu, not wanting to hear the start of one of Lyon's and Ultear's fights. For the first time in the past hour I breathed normally. I'd been holding my breath the whole time, panicked at what would happen.

"That was awful."

I chuckled at Natsu. "To think, you _wanted_ to meet them."

"I thought he would at least give me a chance."

I slipped my hand into his. "Let's get out of here. I'm not looking forward of going back in there for a while."

Natsu nodded and led me down the porch steps. He had tried slipping his arm around my waist but I made him wait until we were out of view of the house. "So now that we have permission, can I kiss you now?"

"You already do."

"But now we can't get yelled at." The pinkette turned towards me and gave a chaste kiss.

"What? That's it?"

Natsu smirked and pulled me towards him. He covered my mouth with his own. I wrapped my arms around his back, getting closer to him. His hot breath entered my mouth, giving me a warm feeling through and through.

* * *

I let Gray pull back after a while, he needed to breathe after all. A smile stretched across my face as I looked at him. A gentle snow had begun to fall, dusting his dark hair lightly white. "You look so cute like that." I pecked his nose.

Gray gave me an irked look. "Why does everyone say I'm cute? I'm not a puppy."

"No, you're cuter than one." I teased.

"I thought you were the puppy." He grumbled.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing, just a little pre get to know you analysis."

I sent him an inquisitive look but didn't ask. Who knew went on in that head of his.

* * *

Natsu was sleeping during class the next day. _Good student my ass. _I thought, think back on the conversation he had yesterday with Lyon, and how insisted he was a well behaved pupil. Natsu let out a soft snore._ He's lucky Erza isn't here, she would beat him for this._

I looked back to the blank canvas in front of me. We were allowed to paint whatever we wanted, but I was truly stumped at what my own painting should be. My thinking process was interrupted by another snore from Natsu.

"Oi, pinky, wake up already." Natsu didn't hear me; instead he continued his journey through dreamland. I sighed , he could sleep through Lucy screaming if he wanted. At least he was cute when he was sleeping. I glanced back at my canvas as an idea started to form in my mind.

Slowly, I started sketching a drawing across the canvas, making sure to get every line and curve perfect. I eyed the pinkette carefully, making note from how his hair spiked to the curve of his nose. More lines were drawn on my canvas as I watched him.

Natsu stirred a little in his sleep. Lazily, he blinked his eyes open. "Wha goin' on?" He slurred.

"Go back to sleep."

"Aren't you supposed to say get to work?"

"Not this time, lay back down."

Natsu ignored me as he stumbled over to where I was working. "That's pretty good." He eyed my sketch. "Except it doesn't capture my full stunning beauty."

"Full of ourselves, aren't we?"

Natsu gave me a complacent look. "No, just truthful."

"Go do your work."

"Thought you needed me to go back to sleep."

"I changed my mind, I don't want to look at you anymore."

"Aw, you're mean."

"Then again, if you're asleep I don't have to hear you whine."

"Graaaaaaayyyy,"

"I'm kidding."

"You're still mean." He grumbled.


	16. Fight of the Frozen Treats

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

"Let's go on a date."

I looked up from my work to see a grinning Natsu across from me.

"A date?"

"Yep," His smile got bigger. "Over the weekend I thought about us and realized we've never officially have gone on a date."

"What do you have in mind?"

"You'll see. I'll pick you up around five."

"It's a date."

…

"Why did I agree to this?"

I was facing the mirror in my bedroom, trying to get a handle on my messy black hair. When I had decided to say yes to Natsu I didn't think about what that meant. I didn't even have an idea of what I was supposed to do. No one ever taught me how to date. Asking Lyon what I should do was out. He still wasn't exactly pleased that I'm dating, or as he put it, "the repugnant state of a minor being erroneously intimate with another being." There was no way in hell I was going to ask Ultear, she would purposely tell me everything wrong.

Which is why Natsu was going to laugh at me when I acted like a fool on our date.

* * *

"How do I look?"

Happy let out a cheer. "Natsuuuu, you look clean."

I gave him a tiny scold. "I'm always clean." Happy let out a giggle at that. "Well I'm off."

"Where are you going?" Happy called after me.

"I'm going to go pick Gray up. See ya, Happy."

* * *

I had finally given up. After panicking for half an hour on what to do I resigned and just decided to wing it. I had thrown on a simple dark blue shirt and wore my usual pendant around my neck. Natsu was probably dressed casual too.

Tiptoeing to the front of the house I cautiously moved to the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

_Dammit._ "Umm, no where." I turned around to face Ultear, who was giving me an inquisitive look. Any hopes of trying to leave the house without having to explain why disappeared. Telling either of my siblings I was going on a date was just too much effort.

"Oh really. Then why are you sneaking about?"

"Sneaking? Who's sneaking? I'm just walking quietly."

"You're a really bad liar."

I let out an irritated sigh. "How much to keep you quiet?"

"I would say fifty, but seeing you squirm is so much more entertaining. Lyon!"

_Damn this women._ "What?"

Lyon looked up from the kitchen table where he was studying. "Gray is trying to be disobedient."

"What precisely are you doing, Gray?"

"Nothing," I held my hands up innocently. "I'm just going out."

"Why would that be?" _Darn it Lyon, why can't you just leave an answer alone._

"Isn't it obvious," Ultear interjected. "Gray's going out to see his_ boyfriend._" Lyon blinked a few in times, not saying anything. "As in a date." Ultear groaned.

Lyon snapped out of his trance. "On a school night? That's unacceptable, you do not need to be out and about late at night."

I shuffled from foot to foot. I was never the one for talking back when I didn't have to. "Don't worry." Ultear said low enough for only me to hear. "I like making him squirm too."

I blinked at her much like Lyon had done a moment earlier. "What do you mea-"

"Have fun tonight. How bout we extend your curfew till ten tonight. That way you can spend lots of time alone with your sweetheart."

Lyon snapped the pencil he was holding in two. "Absolutely no-"

He was interrupted by a knock at the door. A grin spread across my face. "That would be Natsu. Got to go, bye!" I gave Ultear a quick hug in thanks before bolting out the door.

Natsu looked slightly startled as I grabbed his arm and pulled him down the porch steps before he could even say hello. "Um, nice to see you too."

I let out a small laugh and released my death grip on his arm. "Sorry, just don't want to stick around here at the moment."

Natsu slipped his hand in mine. "I can live with that." He gave me one of his famous smiles and I felt my stomach do flip flops.

I turned my face away from him so he wouldn't see the blush creeping along my cheeks. "So, um… what are we doing?"

Natsu gave me a small wink. "Everything."_ Oh boy._

…

As far as "everything" went, it didn't mean everything in the universe. It did mean everything I wouldn't have thought Natsu would have come up with, which turned out to be pretty fun.

Natsu had taken me to the pond in the park. The cold water wasn't yet frozen but was still and tranquil. What had started out as plain stone skipping had turned into a friendly competition, which elevated into an all-out war between us to see who could skip the stones furthest. I won of course, though that marginally irked Natsu. He ended up throwing a small boulder in the pond afterwards that caused the water to splash all over me. I'm still wet because of it.

I lost track of everything after that. He dragged me across town for dinner; buying various foods from vendors (he probably ate half the food in town). We sat back down at the park to eat. Every once in a while he would exclaim how scrumptious something was (or gross) and feed it to me (including the gross food).

* * *

I beamed down a Gray. At first I wasn't sure if what I had planned was a good idea, but every time I turned to him he was smiling (except when I fed him something really hot, cold foods seem to be his taste). Which is why as cliché as it might seem I was buying the two of us ice cream.

* * *

Natsu had to be a mad genius in disguise.

How else would he have known to buy ice cream?

For all those people who have ever said 'it's too cold to eat ice cream,' you have no idea how off the mark you are. The colder the weather the better it tastes. Natsu handed me the vanilla cone he just bought and I licked it eagerly. Natsu gave me a small smirk at the reaction I gave to the sweet treat. I didn't even to glare at him, heck I knew I looked like an overly excited school girl, but you're never should never act like a professional when you eat ice cream, it takes the pleasure out of it.

Natsu gave me one last smirk before licking his own ice cream. Natsu's strawberry ice cream matched the exact color of his hair. I felt a giggle come from me as I watched him. Yes, I, Gray Fullbuster, giggled. I couldn't help it, something about it just made me laughed.

"What?" Natsu gave me a curious look.

"I just figured everything out. You're an ice cream cone."

"What?"

"Think about it," I pointed to his ice cream to him. "The ice cream matches your hair, and the light brown of the cone matches your tan skin."

"How does anyone compare someone to an ice cream cone?"

"But you are one," I continued. "You're sweet just like one. But you can also give someone a headache, kind of like how some people get brain freeze."

Natsu winkled his nose at me. "Did you politely say I'm annoying?"

"But in a nice way." Natsu gave me an irked look for a second, but only a second. A smile began to spread across his face. "Why are you smi… eek!"

Natsu had smashed his ice cream across my face.

"What was that for?!"

"Now we're even."

"You're unbelievable." I wiped the ice cream off. "Now I'm all sticky."

"Well you shouldn't have teased me." I frowned at him, moving my arm out I smashed my own ice cream against him. "Hey!"

"Now we're even."

…

I tugged on Natsu's sleeve and he stopped walking. "We should probably say bye here." House lights were visible up ahead, I didn't particularly want to kiss Natsu goodnight on the porch with my siblings on the other side of the door. Natsu gave a nod of understanding and bent down to peak my cheek.

"Since when do you kiss me only on the cheek?"

Natsu grinned at me and captured my mouth with his. Geez, he's a good kisser.

"Is that better?" He asked, pulling away.

"Ungh…"

Natsu chuckled at my stupefied state. "I'll take that as a yes." He gave my hand one final squeeze. "See you tomorrow."

"See ya."

I began walking back to my house after watching Natsu walk away for a moment. I could already tell, I was going to have a good dream tonight.


	17. Small Scale Catastrophe

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Okay, so something weird happened when I submitted this document, random spaces that hadn't been there were thrown in between the words for some strange reason. I think I deleted everything but there may still be a few gaps. Anyone else have this problem before? On the bright side, it forced me to actually revise and edit for once (kind of), and I never do that. Anyways, enjoy! **

* * *

"I told you he wasn't so bad."

Lyon looked up as I slammed a piece of paper on the table before him. "What's this?" He asked curiously, eyeing the sheet.

"That would be the rubric I received today with my grade on it. As you can see, Natsu and I did very well on our project ."

Lyon expressionlessly scanned over the paper. Needless to say, I've been planning what I was going to say to him since class today. "So that unintelligible twit can do something right."

My eye gave a small twitch. "Yes, he's perfectly capable and trustworthy. He can take responsibility when he wants."

Lyon didn't say anything. You can't really argue that someone isn't suitable or decent when there's an A+ staring you in the face. "I suppose… I can reevaluate him as a match for you." I gave a small cheer. Step one on winning Lyon over, complete.

…

"See, Thulian Pink." I read the label off the color wheel.

"There is no way!" Natsu squirmed from his seat and reached out to grab the wheel from me.

"You're right, there's actually other shades, Amaranth Pink, Carnation Pink, hints of Cheery Blossom Pi-"

"My hair is NOT pink!"

I gave a diminutive shrug. "Say what you want, but the color chart does not lie. "

"It's salmon!"

I held the color chart back up to his hair. "Hmm…no. Salmon is a little too much in the orange and blush side for you. "

Natsu sulked in his chair, mumbling how pink wasn't part of his color palette. Ignoring him, I began mixing the shades o f pink together until it matched his hair perfectly. "You didn't have to paint me, ya know."

"Next time don't fall asleep in class." I started my brush strokes across the canvas, filling in the sketched in lines with paint. Natsu continued his grumbling . "Get to work." I scolded.

Natsu slumped from his seat over to his own canvas. "Why do I have to do this?" He whined.

"Because this is art class."

"But I don't wanna." He wailed. "Can't I just watch you? Mine's not that good anyway."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." I moved over to where his canvas was. "You're already off to a great start. That's a… what the hell is _that?!"_

Natsu looked back and forth between his canvas and my perplexed expression. "It's a dog." He sounded slightly hurt at my not knowing that.

"How is that a dog?!"

"Well, it looks like a dog."

"So it's not a dog?"

"Lucy told me about this animal. I think it looks like a dog."

I blinked at him, and then turned back to his canvas. A small something or rather was sketched. A short, stout figure with a cone for a nose was drawn like the creature was shaking. It sort of resembled a snowman, except it had arms and legs. "What did Lucy say this was? "

Natsu scratched his head. "I forgot. Think she called it a Blue?…Shoe?…Maybe it was Plue?"

I gave him one last mystified look and turned back to my own canvas. "You cease to amaze me."

…

* * *

Happy ran up and hugged my leg as I entered the house. He gave a small frown. "Why isn't Gray with you?"

I kneeled down and ruffled his fur. "He can't use the project excuse to come over anymore. So he won't be here as often."

Happy sniveled. "But I liiiike him."

"Don't worry, he can come over tomorrow."

"Is he bringing me a fish?"

"You know there's more important things in life than fish."

"Eh?" Happy gave me a look like I just sprouted another head.

...

* * *

"Luuuuuucccyy," Natsu sang. "Stop making fun of me."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "How is calling you a lovebird making fun of you?"

"I'm not a bird!" Natsu insisted.

"Calling someone lovebirds isn't insulting them." Loke added.

"How is calling someone a feather covered animal not an insult?!"

I patted Natsu's head affectionately. "You should stop talking now."

"Lovebirds, an openly affectionate couple." Erza explained. A thoughtful look crossed her face. "Or a small bird with mostly green plumage with often a red and black feather appearance around its face, most commonly found around the warmer regi-"

"Thank you, Erza." Lucy interrupted the scarlet's ranting. "I think he gets it."

"Why can't you just say couple?" Natsu demanded.

"It's a synonym for a romantic couple." Lucy groaned.

"But this way you can get confused with birds."

Lucy smacked her forehead in frustration . "You're not a bir-"

"That reminds me!" Natsu perked up. "I need to get home to my cat."

Lucy blinked at him. "How do you get that from bir-"

"Let's go, Gray." The pinkette grabbed m y sleeve before I could say anything.

"Bye." I waved back to a very flustered Lucy and company. "You can let go of my arm now."

Natsu, rather reluctantly, released his steel grip on my arm. "But it's fun to hold you." He mumbled. I sighed and grabbed his hand in mine. He immediately perked up. "Yay!" It doesn't take much to make the simple minded happy. "Your brother knows you're coming over, right?"

"Umm," In truth, I hadn't told him. "My sister does. As long as I'm home by six I'll be fine."

Natsu gave a small pout. "It was ten the other day."

"It's best not to push my brother." Natsu pouted again. "He's warming up to you."

Natsu stopped pouting. "Really? So he likes me?"

"No, but he no longer despises you. Now it's just a strong distaste."

"That's improvement." Natsu beamed at me . "Just watch, he's going to love me one day."

I snorted. "Good luck with that."

…

"Ow!" For the love of… Natsu! Stop squirming!"

Natsu ignored me as he wiggled out of my grip. What had started out as a verbal fight over who was stronger had turned into a match to see who actually was. Call it a rivalry if you want, but I' losing to this pink haired idiot of mine. The pinkette wrapped and locked his leg over mine. Tugging suddenly on the limb he flipped me over. "Not until you admit I'm the strongest."

I wrapped my arm around his neck in a headlock. "Never!"

Natsu let out an "oof" as we tumbled off his bed onto the hard floor. "I'm…not…losing…to…you." He gritted as he rolled over on top of me. Damn, the moron was persistent. "Ha! I wi- Hey!"

I knocked him over and brought my knee to his chest pinning him to the floor. My righteous acting brother my tell me to keep out of trouble, but when we were younger he taught me how to beat the crap out of someone in a fight. Years of figh ting with other boys in the social home added to the experience. Apparently Natsu had done his fair share of fighting too, hell we were evenly matched.

Natsu slammed his arm into my stomach, pushing me off him. We broke apart, panting for a few minutes. "Okay…it's a tie ." I breathed out between pants.

Natsu shook his head. "I…refuse to lose. " He huffed. He rolled over next to me.

"Natsu, give up already. We're both tired."

The pinkette pushed himself up so he was towering over me. Slowly, he bent his neck down so his mouth hovered over mine. He clashed his lips harshly against. My breathing caught as his lips moved against mine own, his hot breath entering my mouth. His hands trailed across my own, gripping me under him. He moved over so his legs were on either side of me . He traced his lips down towards my ear.

"I win."

_What the… _"Dammit." I cursed. Natsu gave a small chuckle. His hands had clasped my wrist above my head when he was distracting me with the kiss. Both his knees were pinning down on the ground. I have to give it to him, he sure knows his opponent's weakness.

Natsu moved off of me and pulled me up into a sitting position. He grinned at me . "That was fun. Let's do that again sometime."

"How about no." I groaned.

…

I snuggled against something both hard and soft, breathing in the scent of something sweet. My arms tightened around something as I stirred. Groggily, I opened my eyes.

The 'something' turned out to be Natsu. I looked up at his sleeping figure. _He looks so cute when he's asleep._ I reached up and brushed a few strands of hair that had fallen across his face away._ The moonlight makes him look so peaceful._ I buried my head back into his chest.

Wait a minute…

Moonlight!

I bolted into a sitting position. "Shit, shit, shit." I murmured. _How long was I asleep?! _I turned to the alarm clock on Natsu's bedside. Green neon numbers blinked 11:3 4 back at me. "Dammit!" I hissed. I stumbled off the bed and hit the floor for the second time today.

"Gray?" Natsu stirred. "What's wrong?"

"I gotta go."" I rushed. "See ya tomorrow. Bye!" I grabbed my backpack off the floor and ran out the room. _Shit, Lyon's going to kill me._

I ran out the front door and into the snow covered night. _Dammit,_ I thought, _my house is on the other side of town. It's going to take forever to get back home._

* * *

A sickening feeling was bubbling in the pit of my stomach. I paced back and forth in the living room in a panic.

"I'm sure he's fine." Ultear tried to calm me, though worry was evident in her voice.

"How can you say that?! What if something happened?" Images of the worst possible scenario flashed in my mind. "What if he's hurt!? What then?"

"Lyon, I'm sure he's fine." Ultear tried again. "Something just probably came up. That's all."

I didn't say anything. She was probably thinking the same thing I was. Back on all those years ago when Ur didn't come back home after the…

I shook the thought out of my mind. Gray had to be okay.

"That's it!" I shouted. "I can't take this any longer. I'm calling the cops." I left to retrieve the phone.

"NO!" Ultear jumped up and grabbed me around my middle. "You can't! If the custody board hears about this then…" She didn't finish her sentence.

"I know." I let out a sigh. "But what if something did happen?"

Ultear didn't answer. "We can't lose him too." She mumbled after what seemed like ages. A wave of shock rolled over me to see tears welling up in her eyes.

I nodded. "I'll give him a little while longer, and then I'm calling."

* * *

I ducked behind a building as a car drove by. The last thing I needed was someone reporting me for being out this late after city curfew. I ran to the next alleyway as the car turned down the next street. Half an hour had flown by already and I was only half way home.

I ducked behind another building as some one drove by. This was going to be a long night.

…

A sigh of relief escaped my lips as house lights finally appeared in the distance. I was running fast enough at this point that the track coach would have drafted me for varsity. Hell, I was putting more energy into this than I think Natsu ever could. When I left the main road I no longer had to hide from being caught, the whole trip went much faster than, even though each minute ticked by excruciatingly fast.

The last fifty feet or so from my door were the longest. I gave one last burst of speed and closed the distance between the house and I. I raced up the stairs and flung the front door open, stumbling right into…

…right into a hard chest and arms immedately wrapped around me.

I starting gasping a bit as the arms crushed me against a body protectively. Another set of arms wrapped around me a moment afterwards. _What the heck?_

I glanced up to see Lyon gripping me against him, tears in the corner of his eyes. _Crap, I am so dead. _I turned my head a bit to see Ultear in a similar state. She wasn't even trying to repress her tears, she was freely crying. My heart dropped. If they both were this upset there was no way I was going to get out of this one.

"WHERE THEE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

There goes the worried brother.

"I…umm… I fe-"

"Why the hell weren't you here earlier!"

"I was…"

"Dammit, are you trying to get taken away?!"

Lyon pulled away from me. The tears I had spotted earlier were gone, replaced with a look of pure ire.

Ultear buried her face into my shoulder. "He almost called the police." She mumbled. Dammit, I really did worry them.

"I'm sorry. I just lost track of time."

"Forget it." Lyon pulled me away from Ultear and gripped my shoulders. "Do you have any idea what could happen if someone finds out about this?"

"Ye-"

"Obviously not." He cut me off. "Stop playing around. Grow up already. You can' t be this irresponsible anymore." I gave a small nod in understanding. "Now here's what is going to happen."

…


	18. Mr Lahar's Discovery

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Did no one realize the last chapter was labeled Small Scale Catastrophe? If I were you I'd be worried about what a large scale one was. Enough of my pointless rantings, enjoy!**

* * *

"Natsuuuuu, wake up already."

"Go away." I mumbled. I flipped over and pulled the covers over me.

"You're going to be late for school." Happy warned.

"Five more minutes."

"I'll call Erza if I need to."

"I'M UP!"

Happy snickered at me as I literally jumped from my bed and rushed about, getting ready for the day. I was pulling a cleanish shirt over my head as Happy shuffled underneath my bed. "What's this?" The blue cat crawled from under the bed, holding something in his furry paws.

I picked the item up from him and looked it over. "It's a wallet." I replied a little slowly. _Must have fallen out of Gray's pocket while we were sleeping._ Now I know you're never supposed to pry, but I had a natural curiosity. I flipped open the beaten up wallet and fingered through the contents. I few loose bills were folded, behind that was a library card (he is such a nerd), and a yellowed piece of paper. My interest sparked and I took out the paper and unfolded it. It was an aged photograph of Gray and his family. _They look so sweet._

Gray looked about eight, maybe a little younger. A younger version of Lyon was next to him. My eyes widened at seeing the silver haired boy smiling in the picture, to be honest I didn't think that was possible for him. Gray's sister sat on the end. Behind the three of them had to be one of the gorgeous woman I've ever seen. _That has to be his mom._ I mentally concluded.

"Gray looked so cute when he was little." Happy commented, glancing at the picture in my hand.

I nodded. "I'll give this back to him later." I refolded the photograph and tucked it back safely. "See ya, Happy."

* * *

Bright morning sunshine peeked its way through my window, waking me from a dreamless sleep. I blinked groggily a bit then squeezed my eyes shut. Pulling the covers back over my head I buried my face deep into a warm pillow. Lyon had permitted me to stay home for the day, considering that I hadn't gotten home until around one, then had to listen him a lecture me until two, followed by another lecture from both him and Ultear until three. Needless to say, I wasn't going to be ready for school in four hours, even if I did sleep at Natsu's.

Starting today was the first in a long line of days of house arrest. For now on it was straight to school only, then straight home. As for the "incident" as we're now calling last night, it didn't exist, and if I'm not "grounded." Lyon went on about how no one can find out about it so I can't mention it. I can't mention being grounded either, because that of course would bring up the reason.

My life is going to be miserable…

* * *

"Have you seen Gray?"

Erza looked up at me as I slid into the seat next to her. "Actually, no. It's rather odd, he never misses school."

I let out a long, dramatic sigh. Lucy giggled at me. "Missing your love muffin already?"

"Who said anything about muffins?" The blonde blinked at me a few times and mumbled something about having to use smaller words. "I'm just bored without him." I groaned.

"What did you do before you two were dating?" Loke asked.

"I annoyed him."

"Well you can't very well do that now, can you?" Lucy commented.

"But I'm borrrrred." I draped my arms around the blonde. "I don't even get to see him this weekend." I complained.

Lucy pushed me off her. "I hope he's not sick."

My eyes widened on instinct. "You think he could be? What if he's no-"

"I'm sure he's fine." Erza cut me off.

"But now I'm worried." I grumbled. "What if something did happen to Gray?"

"Being a pessimist for once." Loke observed. "Strange character shift."

"I think it's sweet that he's worried." Erza voiced. She got a starry, faraway look in her eyes. "It's so romantic. Everyone dreams for getting swept off their feet by someone so loving and caring."

Lucy's devious smirk came and she scooted up to the scarlet. "Is Erza our next match make subject?"

The scarlet looked at her. "If you dare push someone on me like you did with Gray you will never live to tell the tale." The blonde paled and scooted far from the angered girl.

"I still miss Gray." I griped.

* * *

"I see the princess is still asleep."

"You guys kept me up all night." I grumbled.

"You mean like you did us?" I didn't reply. Ultear had her moments and this wasn't one of them. "Don't think because you're under house arrest means that's all you have to oblige by. Now go clean the gutters."

"We don't have any gutters."

"Go put some in."

* * *

"You look grumpy." Happy gave me a blank look.

"I'm not grumpy." I grumbled.

"Uh huh," Happy responded. "Is that way you look irritated?"

"I'm just bored!" I yelled to no one in particular. I collapsed face first into the soft couch. "I have no one to talk to all weekend. How am I supposed to be productive?"

"So you're going to be like this all weekend?"

"Pretty much." I groaned. The sound of a door creaking open made my ears perk up. I looked up to see Happy walking out the front door. "Where are you going?"

"Lucy's house, she's not as boring." Damn cat.

* * *

I shuffled the envelopes lazily, nothing much but the usual bills. I flinched as I flipped to the last sealed envelope marked from the custody board. Tearing open the paper I unfolded the letter. Gray's hearing was next month for guardian finalization. "Guess I better tell him." I sighed.

The sound of something striking the ground caught my attention. I followed the sound as it became clear to the back of the house. Ultear glanced up at me as I rounded the corner. The dark haired girl was sitting on the back porch steps, steaming mug in hand.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Watching the kid work." She picked up a mug next to her and handed it to me.

"Work?" I asked, taking the mug.

"Mmm, I'm having him dig holes."

I looked into the backyard where I saw a mop of raven hair behind a pile of snow. "Why holes?"

"Because we couldn't afford gutters."

I never could understand my sister. "How long has he been at it?"

"Few hours, woke him up a quite a time ago."

"So you had him tear up the yard."

"Calm down, Lyon, I'm going to make him refill them when he's done." I sat down next to here and took a sip from my mug. "Just so you know, if you need anything done say it now."

"So you're using Gray as a servant now." I stated.

"Mom always said to use our resources to our advantage. Hell I'm having him paint my room later. I'll just lend him to you if you want."

I was silent for a moment, thinking that over. Now that she mentioned it, I did have a few things around the house that needed fixing. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

…

* * *

"Yay! Monday!" I cheered, entering the small classroom.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at me. "You're merry this morning."

"Yep, with any luck Gra-"

"Is walking through the door." She cut me off.

I spun around and saw he was in fact coming in. "Gray!" I waved, getting his attention. He looked up at me tiredly. The poor raven appeared utterly exhausted. _Oh no,_ I panicked, _maybe he was sick._

"Hi, Natsu." Gray gave me a warm smile and my tummy did a somersault.

"Hiya." I grinned and wrapped my arms around him in an equally warm embrace. "Miss me?"

Gray gave a chuckle. "Course I did."

I nuzzled his neck playfully, earning a few comments from Lucy and Erza about being school appropriate. I smirked at the two of them and turned my head to peek Gray's cheek. A sudden thought flickered across my mind. "I have something for you." I reached into my pocket and dug out a leather wallet. "You left this on accident at my house."

Gray took the billfold and muttered a thank you. "No big deal. I just looked through it a little. You were sooooooo adorable when you were little." I cooed.

His cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Yeah…well… Wait, what do you mean when? I still am."

I giggled at his defensive look. "You're still cute."

He winkled his nose at me. "Men aren't supposed to be cute. We're supposed to be handsome, or hot, or sexy, but not cute."

"So which one am I?" I smirked.

"You're the exception to the rule."

This time it was my turn to winkle my nose. "I am not cute."

"No, you're adorably charming."

"Doesn't that mean extra cute?"

Gray patted my head. "You can think it means whatever you want to."

…

* * *

Natsu was swinging his legs back and forth. "Graaaaayyy, entertain me." He whined.

"Why is that my job?"

The pinkette pouted at my stubbornness. "You're a meanie."

"So I'm a meanie? I see you're using your high school vocabulary now." I criticized.

"Meanie," he repeated, "didn't talk to me on Friday, or all weekend, now you refuse to play with me." He buried his head in his arms pitifully, almost in a 'no one on this planet shows me compassion' type of way. "Whatever happened when you got home? Did you sneak in?"

"Hmm," I glanced at Natsu. "I'd rather not say. But Natsu…"

"Yes."

"Let's not bring that up to anyone."

* * *

A knock resounded against my office door. "Mr. Lahar?"

"Come in." I called.

My secretary entered the room carrying a small stack of papers. "You're weekly paperwork." I reached out and took the small pile from her.

"Thank you, you may go now."

"One more thing, sir." The secretary shuffled the papers around and pulled out a manila envelope. "These are the files you requested."

I nodded for her to leave. Making the door was closed after her I tore open the envelope and pulled out its contents. I shuffled the different papers that were inside. Most of the information was the standard info to begin with.

The last few sheets were a little different than the first in that they had not as commonly known knowledge about the case I was currently working on. My eyes quickly scanned over the sheets, not finding anything useful I leafed through to the next page.

_Oh, that's interesting._

A sneer twitched at my lips. My eyes continued scanning through the page intently. Who would have guessed this would have turned up of all things?

II pushed myself up from my desk and was out the door heading to the front office before the papers had finished fluttering back onto the desk. "When is my next open slot for meetings?" I asked my secretary.

She quickly scanned what I assumed was my calendar. "Tomorrow afternoon."

"Make me a meeting with one of the supervisors. While you're at it clear my schedule for the day after. I'll have some matters to attend to by then."


	19. Sad Goodbyes

**I do not own Fairy Tail. So here's the next chapter, have fun reading! **

* * *

"Hey, I look pretty damn good."

Natsu leaned over and studied the finishing touches I was currently adding to my painting of him. "That's only because I painted you."

"Are you saying I don't really look this good?" Natsu's eyes became innocently seductive, if that's even possible.

"Hmm, let me think about that one." The pinkette punched my arm playfully. "I'm kidding." I soothed.

"Indecent harlot." He growled.

I gaped at him. "What did you just call me?!"

Natsu looked at me from the corner of his eye. "You heard me. You're not even proper trollop. What prostitute sleeps with someone for free?"

"We did _not_ sleep together." I argued.

"Did too."

"I don't think cuddling counts as prostitution."

It was Natsu's turn to gape. "Yes it is." He insisted.

"Are you sure you know what prostitutes do?"

"Uh huh. Lucy said the word and I asked Erza it was. She said it was when people cuddle for a while and one of them pays the other. She also said she needed to a have moment with Lucy after that."

I shivered at the thought of what the scarlet did to the perky blonde when he mentioned that. "Erza didn't really explain it." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Next time, ask Loke."

Natsu's face fell at learning he wasn't right. "Awwwwww," he sighed. _He's so endearing when he does that._ "Anyway, can you come over today?"

I shook my head negatively. "I'm not allowed." He gave another 'aw' at that. I was still under house arrest and wasn't going to ask when my punishment would be lifted.

"When can you?" He looked up at me optimistically.

"When does this millennium end?"

…

* * *

"That would be all, Mr. Lahar." The supervisor handed me back my request form. "I grant my approval."

I gave a nod of gratitude to the other man. "Thank you, sir." I rose from my seat and exited the office. I couldn't help but let a smirk form on my mouth as I glanced down to the document in my hand.

* * *

I was busy daydreaming in my own little world when something flew and hit me in the side of the head. "OW! WHAT WAAS THAT FOR?!"

I glared at a not so innocent looking cat. "You were mumbling again." Happy stated.

I felt my face heat up. "I wa-was, a-about wh-what?" I stuttered nervously. Truth is, I mumble sometimes without my knowing. Its resulted in a lot of embarrassing comments from Happy ever since I was little.

The cat gave a little joyful giggle. "You were talking about Grayyyyyyyyy." He sang.

"Oh…" I let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully that was all the devil cat heard.

"You looooovvee him." Happy went on. My face turned deep red at the word love. Happy noticed and continued in his teasing, singing you looovvee him repeatedly.

"O-of course I do!" I finally choked out.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I…" I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat. "I…haven't told him yet."

Happy stooped his chanting and gave me a blank look. "Natsuuuuu, you're supposed to do that."

"I know. I'm just waiting for the right time."

"You should make it really romantic when you do." Happy added, stars forming in his eyes. Geez, he was spending too much time around Lucy.

"I have something in mind." I mumbled. "I just need time with him but he isn't allowed out anymore." I let out a long sigh and flopped onto my back. Maybe he could just go out for a little bit…

* * *

Natsu ran up and hugged me the next day before I could even get out a 'how do you do.' He wrapped his arms tightly around me and beamed at me. "Can you sneak out this weekend?"

"Huh?" I was never one for rule breaking. But whatever Natsu had planned was enough to get my consideration.

His grin got even bigger. "You'll see on Saturday. Just come, 'kay."

"Hmm, what can the almighty Natsu have planned that is so dire that I must attend?"

"If you knew that it wouldn't be as special."

"You're not going to tell me?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Nope. You just have to wait."

"The suspense is killing me." I murmured. Natsu bounced in excitement. He tilted his head and pecked me on my jawline before snuggling into the crook of my neck. I have to admit, I was dying to know what got Natsu so giddy like this.

…

"Why do you have to go hoooommmee?"

I let out an irked sigh as I tried pulling away from the pink idiot. Not as easy as it sounds. The moron had a grip on me like steel. "Natsu, let go. I have to get home."

Natsu glared at me. In less than a second his grip turned into a pull and I was falling towards him. "No."

I narrowed my eyes to him. "What did you just say?"

"I said no." His grip tightened from steel to him practically being welded to me.

"I'm going to get yelled at if I'm not back soon. Now let go."

"But I don't waaaaanna."

I gave a quick twist and flipped over so I was now grabbing onto him. "You're very needy, ya know." Natsu opened his mouth to protest and I swooped down and captured his mouth with mine before he could. Natsu slowly released his grip and moved his arms around me. I encompassed him in my own embrace. Leisurely, I pulled back from the kiss. "It's not the end of the world. I'll see you tomorrow."

Natsu snuggled his head into the crook of my neck. "See you tomorrow." Albeit reluctant I pulled away from him and waved my farewell. Natsu gave a small wave, a pout visible on his features.

…

After treading through the snow for about half an hour my house finally came into view. I have to admit, I was not pleased. A car I recognized as Mr. Lahar's was parked into the driveway. Call it a reflex, but my mood turned from content to nervous, which only got worse when I got nearer to the house and heard yelling coming from inside.

All heads turned to me as I entered the front door. The yelling ceased and everyone went still. "Umm…what's goi-"

Ultear grabbed my arm and pulled me behind her. A split second after the yelling resumed.

"Like hell he's going anywhere." That one was from Lyon.

Mr. Lahar retained his cool composure. "As I've previously stated, it isn't a matter of cho-"

"Who gives a damn!" That was Ultear. "If you think for a second you're taking him away you have another thing coming." Did she just say taking and away?

Mr. Lahar ignored her. "The issue has already been decided. He'll be leaving your custody by today."

A lump formed in my throat. "Leaving custody?"

A low rumble came from Lyon. _Did Lyon just growl! _"He's staying here." The three of them commenced into a verbal war. Ultear and Lyon both yelling at Mr. Lahar while he calmly talked. His being calm only managed to piss the others off.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

The three of them stopped in their bickering and turned to me. Mr. Lahar cleared his throat. "Starting today you're no longer in the custody of either of your siblings. You're back to being a ward in the system. You'll be leaving this home today and return to a group home."

I went stiff. Giving a nervous glance between Lyon and Ultear showed neither of them were backing down. "This is ludicrous. There is absolutely no reason Gray shouldn't stay with us." Lyon's voice was icy cold. "We're not handing him over."

"I understand your feelings,"

"Obviously not."

Mr. Lahar ignored him. "But if you don't allow him to leave you leave me no choice but to call the police and forcefully remove Gray from your care."

"Call them then. We won't let them take him either." Ultear challenged.

Lyon nodded in agreement. "He's perfectly fine here."

"If that's the case I'll call the po-"

"I'll go."

Everyone turned back to look at me. "There's no reason to get officers involved. Besides, it's just the group home."

Mr. Lahar nodded in approval at my decision. "Good choice. Go back your bags and we'll head to Crocus."

"You said nothing about that!" Lyon snapped. "Why would he go to Crocus? There are plenty of group homes between here and there."

Mr. Lahar gave Lyon an irritated look. "The head office for custody is in the capital. It's been decided already that Gray will stay there."

"It's eight hours away!"

"Nevertheless, it has already been decided. Now Gray, go retrieve your belongings. I'll give the three of you a few last minutes alone."

I gave a small nod and trudged to my room, Ultear and Lyon following me. Neither of them said anything while I took my suitcase out from under my bed. Shakily, I started packing the clothes I had. I was just going through the motions, slowly becoming numb as reality dawned on me. I hadn't even realized a tear a slid down my face until Ultear brushed it off and wrapped me in her arms. A sob rose from my throat and I buried my head in her shoulder. She gently rubbed my back trying to calm me down.

"This…is…right." I choked out between sobs. "I…just got…you two… back."

"Shh…it's okay." Ultear tried. "Everything is going to be alright."

I managed a small nod and tried to stop the tears, a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I looked up to see Lyon giving me a blank look. I threw my arms around him like I was five again. "Don't worry, we'll figure everything out." He didn't sound too confident about that.

"O-okay." I shook a little as I closed the suitcase and stumbled out of the bedroom. Ultear slipped her hand into my free one and Lyon had his hand still on my shoulder. Hesitantly, they helped my still shaking form down the hall and out the door. Lyon stopped on the porch steps.

"Are you sure about this?"

I gave a shaky nod in response. "I don't really have a choice, do I."

Mr. Kahar was waiting by his car as I approached him. He gave a nod to the passenger side door and I opened it. Ultear and Lyon gave me one last hug before I got in.

…

Mr. Lahar spoke very little during the painfully long ride to Crocus. He mentioned a few things about how better everything was there and how I would love it. I ignored him the whole way. Crocus could be a damn wonderland I wouldn't care. I also knew it was complete bullshit.

The thing about "group homes" is that they're not all the same. The lowest level isn't even a home, it's a juvenile correctional facility where they stick kids when they don't have anywhere else to put them. The next level is a group home where living on the streets is the equivalent to living there. Above that are decent homes, ones that could always be better but it's perfectly fine to live there and have no complaints. The best level is what I was living in back at Magnolia. The house is in pretty good shape and none of the kids are too rough in their actions. Of course, there are homes that are boarder line between each level. Some operate different. Some are unisex homes while others, like the one back in Magnolia, house both boys and girls.

Turns out, I was now living in a unisex home. The house was also "specialized" in adolescents, so everyone there turned out to be my age. The caretaker, some middle aged man, gave me what you could consider a warm welcome and had one of the boys in the home take me to my home. Two rows of bed were lined up on the sides of the room. The boy pointed to a bed that was currently not being used. I gave a small nod to him and set my suitcase on it.

"Who's the new kid?"

I looked up to see tall, blonde male looking at me, he looked a few years older than me and I began to wonder what he was still doing here. I didn't say anything and looked at the ground instead. "I see he doesn't have any manners." I gave a quick glance up to see a boy around my age with purple hair with a streak of white in it looking at me.

"He doesn't look like much." That was a new guy.

"Hmm, not at all." The first guy added, slowly approaching me like a predator to its prey. I stiffened as he grabbed my collar and shoved me against the wall. "Now, let's act like gentlemen, introductions are in order here. I'm Sugarboy."

_Sugarboy?_ Who the hell goes by a name like that? I didn't say anything in greeting, just kept on glaring at him. "I'm Hughes, and that's Dan." The purple hair guy gestures to the last guy. Still, I kept my mouth shut, returning back into my reclusive state I stayed in for years.

Sugrboy tightened his hold on my collar. "Not talkin,' eh?" He hoisted me a foot of the ground and let go. I threw my hands out in front of me to break my fall. Sure, this is a lot better than having to live with Lyon. I stared at the floor. Hoping they would just leave me be.

Hughes kneeled down beside me. "Let's get something straight_ kid,_" My eyes narrowed at his condescending tone. "We're not here to play, and neither are you. We're in charge here. You want something, you go through us. You do something, you get permission from us. You want to think, you ask us first. Got it? That cold attitude of yours isn't going to get you far with us."

I turned my glare from the floor to him, only to feel a foot collide in my stomach. Sugarboy gave me a smirk before moving his foot away. My fist clenched and I wanted so badly to wipe that smirk off his face.

Gritting my teeth I pushed myself up from the floor and moved away from them. I wasn't going to be the one to sink to their level. Not yet anyway. I made my way back to my bed. The three of them soon lost interest in me and left me alone. Keeping my head down, I started unpacking my only possessions.

"Is that your mommy?" A smirk came from behind me and the pictue of Ur I had been taking out was ripped from my hands. "Hmm, not bad." Sugarboy cooed. My fist clenched at his sensual tone.

"Give. It. Back." I gritted my teeth in disgust.

"He talks. Now tell me, what's your name kid."

"Give it back."

"Tell me your name."

"Gray."

"Well Gray, I don't appreciate how you're treating me. You're going to have to do better." He turned back to the picture of Ur. "Let me guess, she's dead. Too bad, for a woman she has a damn fine bod-"

I sent a fist into his jaw. Sugarboy stumbled backwards, spitting out a mixture of blood and saliva at me. He nodded at someone and a fist came down on the back of my neck. Hughes kneed my back and sent me back onto the ground. He placed a foot on my back and pinned me down. Sugarboy kneeled down and grabbed a fist full of my hair in his hand. He pulled my head back and rammed it into the hard floor repeatedly. Warm blood started to trickle down my face.

Jerking my head up Sugarboy forced me to look at him. "Listen here kid. I'm in charge here. You don't strike me, I strike you." He stood back up and waved the picture in front of me. I struggled helplessly as he dropped it. A cracking sound came from the glass breaking on the ground. Sugarboy stomped onto of the frame, breaking it beyond repair.

"STOP IT!"

Sugarbuy ground the glass into the floor. "Learn your lesson yet. Or do I need to do the exact same to you?"

…

I pulled the thin sheet over my head. My picture of Ur was torn and crumpled. My entire body ached all over. Bruises covered my back, chest, and stomach. I was worn out and dreaded my first day at the new school tomorrow in a few hours. I'd rather be living on the streets then in this hellhole of a house.

I pulled my knees up to my chest. I couldn't help but wonder if Lyon and Ultear missed me as much as I missed them. It hasn't even been a full day yet and it felt like a year had gone by. Images of my friends fluttered through my mind. Erza smiling, Lucy scheming, Loke being his usual self, Natsu… I clenched my eyes shut at the thought of him. I didn't even get to say goodbye. He's just going to wake up and find I'm not there anymore.


	20. Practice

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy this chapter (don't laugh at the play scene, I'm being forced to read Shakespeare and I wanted to try my skills at crappy romances). **

* * *

A feeling of panic came over me when I woke up. After about a minute if hyperventilating I finally calmed down enough to realize where I was, then wished I hadn't. Slowly, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. My head throbbed and a sharp pain felt like my stomach was being ripped apart from the inside. I took a lung fill of air before attempting to stand up.

A clock on the wall read five after, a few minutes before the caretaker said he wakes everyone up for school. Course, a few minutes alone from these animals wasn't a bad idea. Grabbing some clothes from my suitcase I made my way into the bathroom.

Pulling my shirt I had slept in off I spared a quick glance at my bruised and battered body. Blue and black contusion covered my back, chest, and stomach. No wonder I hurt like hell, I look like I was dragged behind a train. Quickly I got dressed, wincing in pain at times from the pain.

I heard noises coming from outside the bathroom and saw a few guys already stirring. A groggy Sugarboy particularly caught my attention. Near him Hughes was also starting to wake up. Sneaking from the room I made my way down the stairs and into the shelter's main room.

My brief talk with the caretaker the last night included my schooling situation. My new, high school, wherever the hell it was, was in walking distance from the home. He also said just to wait from someone else and go with them to school. There was not a snowball's chance in hell I was waiting on the bastards upstairs for that.

Slipping out the front door I glanced this way and that, looking for someone who would hopefully know.

…

"So you're the new student here. Gray, is it?" I gave a small nod to my new teacher. She didn't say anything while she gave me a quick look over. Her eyes narrowed when they landed on my black eye. "What happened?"

"I fell down the stairs."

"Funny shaped stairs." She muttered. "There should be an available seat in the back of the room."

…

* * *

"Hey Lucy,"

The blonde looked up from her script we were supposed to be acting out and sent a glance towards me. "Yes?"

"Why do you think Gray wasn't in class earlier?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't think he's sick, he was fine yesterday. Maybe he just overslept or something."

I let out an irritated groan and leaned back against the sage wall. "I'm… Luce," The blonde sent me another glance. "I'm planning on telling Gray something… important this weekend. But…I'm a little nervous about it."

The blonde let out a squeal at guessing what that "something" was. "Natsuuuuu," Oh crap, is she purring? "That is so romantic."

"But…how am I supposed to do it?"

"Honestly, Natsu, do you need my expertise on everything?" She let out an irritated sigh at my sheepish smile. "Very well, turn to act three, scene two." She held out the script she had been reading to me.

"Wha-"

"Just do it."

I flipped through the script until I found the part. Lucy grabbed my wrist and led me onto the middle section of the stage. "Umm, Luce, this is a love confe-"

"Just act it out."

"But you're the one I'm supposed to say it to!"

"This is just practice for when you do it in real life. Pretend I'm Gray.

"Gray's cuter." I grumbled.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"NOTHING!" I cleared my throat and gave on last glance at the script in my hands. "But this is a _girly scene."_

"What is that supposed to mean? Just read the damn lines."

"Oh, sweet. Forgive me my si-"

"Don't be so monotone," Lucy cut off. "Just act natural."

"Oh, sweet." I began again. "Forgive me my sins. For I have committed a serous act of nature." Geez, I hate romance plays.

"What would that be of?" Lucy read the next line.

"I had laid eyes on a creature of pure beauty. A being of loveliness and splendor. Whose very existence gives my lung breath." Rummaging from backstage lessened as onlookers began to watch our performance. "The way their hair falls. The way those gorgeous eyes gaze at me. How their luscious body draws my desires. I, my dear, have fallen in love with someone who possesses beauty to make gods envious."

"That is a serious deed. To be captured by one so lovely."

I could hear the drama teacher, Mr. Rabian, sniffling at performance we were giving. Of course he would love this scene, he wrote this damn play. "It is. I feel my control and reason disappearing from my body. I am left with not but my love."

"Does this magnificent being tell of their love for you to be the same?"

"I don't not know. Tell me dearest, do you?" I followed what the script said and bowed on my knees before Lucy. Mr. Rabian was practically swooning at this overly tender act.

Lucy acted out the scene much like I imagined Gray would. Minus the fancy talking. A blush crept along her cheeks. I smiled at that. Gray would probably do the same, knowing the Raven. "How could I not?" Lucy whispered. "When one has spoken so freely of compassion. It would be a crime for one not to do the same." I took Lucy's hand in mine and stood up with a purpose. Encircling the blonde in my arms I ducked my head down, finishing our act with a stage kiss.

Mr. Rabian was bowing repeatedly, muttering thank you again and again to us for no real reason. Erza had been watching the performance from the back of the auditorium, stars were practically visible in my eyes. Who would have guessed the scarlet was such a romantic. "Now you just have to say that to Gray." Lucy whispered in my ear.

"I don't think he's going to reply the same as you."

…

* * *

There are two types of strangers in this world. First, there's the one that makes you want to greet them so they no longer are a stranger. Second, there's the one that no one ever talks to. Lucky for me, I was the second one.

I wasn't really in the mood for talking to anyone (can you blame me?). Trick is to just keep your head down. It's not like I forgot how to not be noticed in the short time I've known Natsu. If I could be left alone then, I was going to be now.

The final bell of the day rang and kids rushed out of the classroom like wild animals chasing after limping goat. I winced as people bumped into me in the crowded hallways. I gritted my teeth in pain after someone rammed into me on my way out the door.

I saw a blonde, taller than the rest of the student body, watching me intently. Quickly, I averted my gaze from his unattractive face. Not fast enough though to see the smirk rising on Sugarboy's face.

I turned down the street opposite the shelter I was staying at. If curfew wasn't until six, I wasn't going back till then.

…

My resolution about staying out until then didn't go unheeded. I was literally standing outside the foster home door at five fifty-nine, making no effort to open the door. The first week at the new home was a "probation" period for newcomers. If I proved trustworthy certain limitations would disappear. Turns out, it made the whole stay here a little more tolerable. Once you get past the probation period you can stay out until eight. So for the time being, I was the only one at the home, minus the caretaker.

Slipping in the front door of the building I bypassed the living room and went straight for the sleeping quarters.

…

* * *

…

"Gray's not here again."

"Hmm," Loke shuffled the paper he was reading and glanced at me. He gave me a calm look at seeing my blank face. "I'm sure your princess is just locked in a tower. Don't sound so depressed about it. He'll be back tomorrow."

I set my chin on the desk in defeat. "What if he's not back tomorrow?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" I gave a small shrug. I hope Loke was right for once.

* * *

I cringed involuntarily as my head slammed against the brick wall behind the school. A hand was clenched firmly about my neck, keeping my position shoved up against the wall, hovering a foot above the ground, securely in place.

"What did you just call me?"

"Pathetic assho-"

Hughes rammed his knee into my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs. Just so there's no confusion here, I am not the one who started this fight. The damn bastard cornered me. I just added fuel to the flames.

That was probably one of the dumbest things I have ever done in my life.

There are a few things in life that everyone knows without having to be told to know it. One very important one just flew from my head before all this. You do not piss off someone who sleeps in the same room with you.

Hughes let go of my neck and I crumpled to the ground helplessly. He sent a kick into my ribcage and I doubled over. "You really want to start this, _Gray?"_ My eye twitched when he added my name at the end. "You think you can take us on?"

Hughes let out a sneer when I didn't answer. "That's what I thought." He left after giving one last blow to my side. Pushing myself into a position I clutched my side. I leaned my head against my knees, focusing on trying to get rid of the throbbing headache now forming.

"I'm going to get him back for this one day."


	21. Heartbroken

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Thanks for all the sweet reviews. Enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

"Dammit! Where the hell is he?!"

"Calm down, Natsu. I'm sure he'll show up any second now."

"Loke's right, Gray's going to be here any second." Lucy soothed.

"He hasn't come to school since the beginning of the week." I grumbled. "What's so important that he doesn't come to see any of us?" I'm not going to act all tough. It hurt, having Gray not seeing me or at least telling me why he couldn't. "I was supposed to tell him tomorrow!"

Lucy gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he'll meet you then. Why don't you pick him up tomorrow?"

"I can't wait till then! I miss him."

"Just give him until tomorrow. If he's just sick or something it's best to leave him alone."

"I but misssssssssss him."

Erza rolled her eyes at me. "Gray can take care of himself. He doesn't need people worrying about him every five seconds, nor would he want that."

"Fine, but I'm checking on him tomorrow."

* * *

There was a small park some blocks away from that damn foster home. The greenery stood out brightly and flowers blossomed in the growing bushes surrounding the park's edge. Benches and a handful of trees dotted the ground, giving the park a comfy feeling. A bubbly fountain stood in the middle. A lovely image of the perfect gar-

Who the hell am I kidding? I've seen dumpsters that looked more inviting than this shitty place.

When I say this park is small, I mean _small._ It couldn't really be considered a park either. It was more of a patch of green tucked away in the city. It didn't snow in Concurs like it did in Magnolia, so the green(ish) plants were still insight. The grass was somewhat alive and the trees were somewhat alive. Years of suffering from city pollution has taken its toll on the plants, causing them to droop. Most of the park benches were rotting and the fountain in the middle was cracked didn't hold a single drop of water. The stone pathways were beaten and looked like someone had smashed them in with a sledge hammer. It also gave the impression that this is where the homeless and rodents made their bed for the night.

At the moment though, it was paradise at its finest.

Like I said, it was a few blocks away from the hell known as the foster home. That was plenty of space between me and those animals who resided there. This spot of the city was also not necessarily the friendliest, so people tended to avoid it when they could. It was almost completely secluded from anyone that could possibly want to talk to me (not that anyone does).

Along with this park, there were a few more things I've figured out. First off, it doesn't matter what time I got back to the foster house. The caretaker usually doesn't check on anyone, he's not even there most of the time for whatever reason. If he did check to make sure everyone was back it was usually at ten at night. Before and after that you could be on a different continent and he wouldn't know. After he came at ten, I snuck out the window and slept peacefully on the roof. My whole life was pretty much on a schedule. School, park, back at ten, roof. It was that simple.

* * *

…

_Crunch._

The thin sheet of ice covering the white snow shattered on each stride, giving a soft cracking sound each time.

_Crunch._

A small whistle came from my lips and there was a spring in my step.

_Crunch._

My whistle became a hum as I got nearer to the small house on the outer reaches of town. The early Saturday morning sun peeked through the grey colored clouds, giving little warmth in the cold weather. The snowy landscape was still, minus my practically skipping self. "Graaaaayyy." _Where was that silly raven?_

I bounded up the porch steps and gave a knock at the door. I rocked back and forth on my heels waiting for someone to answer. A white hair male opened the door. "Hiya, Lyon, is Gray here?"

The older male narrowed his eyes at me. "Why are you here?"

"Huh?" I blinked innocently at him. "Well Gray hasn't been at school the past few days. Everyone was getting worried."

"He's not here."

"When is he getting home?"

"He's not."

Lyon slammed the door shut in my face before I could say anything else. "Umm," I raised my hand back to the wood, unsure if I should knock again. I let out a deep breath. "He wouldn't answer if I did."

I hopped down the porch steps, kicking up snow when I reached the bottom. "I just wanted to talk to Gray." I dragged my feet thru the snow, depressed. "He didn't have to be mean. What did he even mean by 'he's not?' Of course Gray is going to be home later."

The sound of a door creaking open came from behind me, followed by the crunching of snow. I peeked behind me to see Ultear coming towards me. "Hi Ultear." I waved. Lyon may have be a scary meanie he wasn't all bad. As far as Gray's sister goes, I really like her. She's nice and devious and just plain fun.

Ultear gave me a small wave in response. "Sorry 'bout that." She nodded in the direction of the house. "Lyon is just a little stressed right now."

"That's okay. When is Gray going to be home."

Ultear got a sudden forlorn look in her eyes. "We don't know."

"Wha- But Gray lives here."

Ultear shook her head. "Not anymore." Her dark eyes met mine. "Gray was picked up by custody services the other day. He can't live here anymore."

"So he's back at the fos-" Something in Ultear's look told me my next question was a no. Gray wasn't back at the foster home in Magnolia. He wasn't even in Magnolia. "Oh, okay...thanks for telling me."

I turned away from her and continued walking. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and my heart twisted inside my chest. Tears started freely flowing down my face seconds later. "Gray…"

* * *

"Why can't fairy tales ever come true?"

I closed the book I had been reading and placed back on the shelf. My local excursions had led me to the town library. It was nice enough, not the nicest in the world, but it was humble. The majority of the day had been spent in the fiction section, more precisely, the storybook part of the section. Books with faded covers caught my interest. Happily, I spent the morning in reminiscence of when Ur used to read stories to me. I never would have guessed when I was five years old that these stories were a load of crap.

Rags to riches protagonists, foul demons, knights in shining armor, it was all a complete lie. Damsels in distress and a brave prince that comes to save them that turns out to be their one true love. Daring sword fights and magic powers. Knights that slay ferocious dragons. "Who the hell has even met a dragon anyway?" I groaned.

I pulled down another book from the shelf and looked at the title. I remembered this book. The ending always stuck with me. How the main character traveled to faraway lands to save the one he loved that was taken from him. Every once in a while Ur would change the ending "to make it least sexist" as she put it, which is why sometimes the damsel was the one that kicked the bad guys butt instead of the hero. Now that I think about, she had a point. Why is it the boy is never the one that needs saving.

"Still…it's a good book." I flipped open to the first page and began to read.

* * *

"Are you okay, son?"

"Mmm."

"Is that a no?"

"Natsu's just upset." Happy spoke up, directing his comment to my father Igneel. That was actually really brave of the cat. He was usually calling my dad ferocious and running away.

"It's not often you're upset. What's gotten you down?"

I didn't answer. I've spent the whole weekend locked up in my room, sobbing. I was so caught up in Gray leaving I had hardly realized when my dad came home last night. That was completely out of character for me. Usually I was jumping in joy when Igneel got home. But ever since I found out Gray left I just haven't acted like myself. Lucy and Erza have become worried because of it. I hardly even talk anymore. The only one who hasn't said anything about it was Loke. He just watched as I moped around.

"Hey…dad?"

Igneel looked back up from his newspaper. "Yes?"

"What do you do when…you're heartbroken?"

He gave me one of his unreadable expressions. "Heartbroken? Since when have you had your heart captivated?"

"Umm…" I had forgotten I hadn't told him anything yet. "A while now."

Igneel let out a sighed. "Should have known this day was coming. Natsu," I looked up at him as his tone changed from emotionless to fierce. "I was never one for relationship advice. You know that. But there is one thing I know." He leaned in closer to me. "We're Dragneels. We don't mope around. We act. If it was your fault you better damn well make this right. If it was theirs, then you figure it out."

"What if it was neither of our faults?"

Igneel snorted and leaned back in his chair. "Do I look like a marriage counselor?"

"No."

"Figure it out. Just remember, I know you, Happy knows you, your friends know you. We know you're too stubborn to give up this easy. Get that heart of yours fixed."

"Thanks for the advice." I rolled back over on my stomach, my mood not that much improved. My dad was never one for sappy, heart to heart exchanges. A fortune cookie would have been just as helpful. He did have one part right, though. I was too stubborn to know when to give up, and if it was for Gray's sake, I wasn't going to.

"I just don't know what the hell to do." I grumbled.

…

"Cheer up, Natsu."

"Hmm," I looked up and saw Lucy standing over me, a forced smile on her lips. Gray leaving hadn't been easy on anyone.

"He's fine. It's not like you're never going to see you again."

"How would you know?"

The blonde didn't reply to my sour remark. I hadn't been the nicest either lately. "Well," Erza tried. "Gray has family here after all. He'll come back one day."

"You can't be so sure." I grumbled. "What if he doesn't? What then?" The scarlet didn't reply. On any normal day she would have beaten me to a pulp for talking back to her. She was that sympathetic to this whole scenario that she didn't do so.

Loke didn't say anything as during our trading of remarks. His expression was blank and stiff. You couldn't even make out what his eyes revealed behind his glasses.


	22. The Partial Lifeworks of Natsu Dragneel

**I do not own Fairy Tail. Enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

"Natsuuuu, don't cry."

I turned my head to the sniffling voice. Happy wasn't one to be giving orders right now. Small tears were gathering in the corners of his eyes. Him crying wasn't completely for Gray though. I had yet to smile since I found out a few days ago and the blue cat was starting to panic because of it.

I reached out a hand and gently ruffled his fur. "Cheer up, Happy. Things will get better." That was a complete lie. I knew it, Happy knew it, hell the birds outside my window knew it.

"Wh-why can't G-Gray just co-come ho-home?" Happy sobbed.

"It's complicated."

"Bu-but…" Happy rubbed some of the tears from his eyes. "If everyone's sad that he left…how come no one tried to bring him back?"

"It's out of our control."

"That's not good enough!" I stared at the cat in utter disbelief. Happy never had outbursts like that. I hadn't realized how much Gray leaving would really affect him.

"Happy, I-"

"You said it yourself!" Happy screamed. "You fight for the ones you love. You don't give up when things get difficult. You keep going."

Happy went back to sniffling. We sat together in silence after that. Occasionally I would smooth his fur in an attempt to calm him down. "You know…" Happy gazed up at me through tear filled eyes. "I said it was out of our control. I never said I wasn't going to try."

Happy's tears slowly began to dry up. "Natsu."

"We just need to think about how we're going to save his ass."

…

"Have you seen Loke?"

Lucy looked down at me from atop of the school steps as I approached the building. "Can't say that I have."

The blonde frowned. "That's not like him. He usually shows up to class at the last minute, but he's really pushing it."

"That goes for you as well." Lucy jumped as a frightening scarlet came up behind her.

"Er-Erza, Natsu and I were just getting to class." Lucy assured a little poorly.

Lucy let out a shriek as Erza grabbed the back of her shirt and started dragging her off to class. I followed obediently, not wanting to have to be dragged along too. Murmurs rose from behind us as we made our way into the schools building. Lucy's chocolate brown eyes widened and she pointed to something behind me. "What the hell is he doing?!"

Erza froze, one hand on the door handle of the building. The scarlet turned around to look at what caught to blonde's attention. Others did the same. The murmuring grew and people began whispering at what Lucy pointed out.

A very nice, very _expensive_ looking red convertible was zooming its way to the front of the school. Behind the wheel stood a teen about my age, an expression of determination was set on his features, letting everyone know he was on a mission and he wasn't going to back down. His eyes were hidden behind his blue tinted glasses and his orange colored hair flew behind him as he drove.

"Loke?"

The convertible's tires screeched to a stop in front of the building. "Get in."

I gawked at him. "Huh?"

"Get in the damn car Natsu."

"Wha-"

"Loke!" Erza interrupted me. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Loke smirked at her. _He _smirked at _her._ "You coming too sweetheart?"

Is he asking for a death sentence? "What are we doing?" I spoke up cautiously.

He rolled his eyes at me. "What do you think Prince Charming? We're going to go save your princess."

Lucy let out a squeal. "Let's go!"

"Halt!" Lucy froze as the scarlet spoke. "You're telling me you three plan on skipping school for this no doubt futile operation."

"Come on Erza." Lucy whined. "It's _Gray_ we're talking about."

"That's reason enough for me." I walked over to the convertible and hopped over into the back seat. A blue ball of fluff rammed into me chest.

"Natsu!"

"Happy? You're here too?"

"Aye. Loke picked me up after you left."

Lucy hopped into the seat next to me. "Come on Erza, just this once."

The scarlet didn't say anything. I saw her hand tense on the door handle of the school entrance. "If you insist on this 'rescue mission' then as a friend of Gray's it wouldn't be honorable if I didn't do likewise." The blonde let out a cheer as the scarlet jumped into the front seat next to Loke.

A teacher looked over at us and began to approach. He opened his mouth to shut what I assumed was 'Wait! Stop! You can't ditch school!' but I couldn't really hear him over the engine. "Time to go." Loke's foot hit the gas pedal faster than what was humanly possible. The car launched off school grounds and spun onto the main road.

My stomach did quite an impressive backflip. Happy rubbed my back in a calming manner. Lucy gave me a slightly disgusted look before looking to Loke. "Do you even know where we're going?"

Loke held up a piece of paper between his fingers. "Let's just say I had a little visit with Gray's sister yesterday. After a little bit of convincing her she told me where he was moved to. I got the remaining directions from there."

Lucy took the piece of paper and glanced it over. "We're going to Crocus!"

Erza turned around and glanced over the paper along with her. "So it would seem."

"But it's eight hours away!"

Loke snorted. "Not a problem. We'll have to princess back here before tomorrow."

"That's not the problem." Erza gave Lucy a questioning look and Loke watched her out of the corner of her eye. "We have to deal with a motion sick Natsu. For eight hours."

Loke and Erza muttered a few curses under their breath. Loke gave one last look at my now green form as he turned onto the highway. "I'll make it in seven."

...

He made it in six.

We passed by a green sign with the name Crocus and the number five next to it. "Just a few more miles." I coughed out.

"Still," Lucy looked back at the directions Loke had been using. "This only takes us to Crocus. We have no idea where we're going after this."

"There are a few foster homes here since it's such a large city. I didn't know which one he was in so we're playing it by ear."

I made an unflattering sound at that. "Natsu's right." Happy added, somehow deciphering what I was trying to get out between moans and grunts. "We should ask around to see where the homes are. That we don't waste time wondering around."

Lucy gave the cat a doubtful look. "You got all that from one grunt?"

"Aye!"

"Aye," Loke mimicked, turning onto a side street. "A sign up the road said there was an informational building over here. Maybe someone there knows."

"Ungh."

"What did he say that time?" The blonde turned to the feline.

"He can't wait to see Gray." Happy giggled. Loke turned into a parking lot. I jumped from the car in one swift motion.

"I'M FREE!"

"You know you'll have to get back in." Lucy sighed.

Erza hopped out next to me and together we made our way to the information center's entrance. I raced to the door and kicked it wide open. "WHERE THE HELL IS THE ORPHANAGE!"

A lady behind the counted gave me a blank look. "Uuhh… can I help you?"

Erza came up behind me, completely composed. "Where would we find a foster home on the city?" Damn the scarlet. How is she always so polite?

"Umm," The lady behind the counter thought it over for a moment. "I know there's one at the northern end of the city. Just take a left and go straight for three miles. Oh, and I think it's a home for only-"

"Let's go!" I shouted, grabbing Erza's wrist. "We have a damsel to save!"

Loke and Lucy were waiting by the car still. "Well?" Loke asked.

I hopped back into the back seat. "Start driving!"

…

"It's an all-girls home."

The four of us, five if you include Happy, stared at the building dumbfounded. "I think we have the wrong place." Lucy muttered.

I kicked the building's brick wall in frustration. "Dammit! Where the hell is he?!" I heard the sound of giggling come to my ears. I turned my head and saw a group of girls walking towards us. "Hey!" I waved to them, catching their attention. "Can you tell us where another one of these things are?" I jerked a thumb at the building I had recently assaulted.

…

"This one looks much more promising."

I knocked on the door of the foster home. I heard footsteps from behind the door. Slowly, the wooden entrance creaked open. "Yes?"

"Hi. We're looking for someone named Gray. Is he here?"

The person on the other side of the door gave me a watchful glare. "I couldn't tell you if he was. But there's no one here by that name."

"Oh, well maybe you know if there's another orphanage near here?"

"South side of town. Now beat it kid." The door slammed shut in my face.

"Nice to meet you too." I grumbled under my breath. I spun on my heels to where the gang was waiting in the car. "Next stop, south side."

…

"Wait a second Loke, I think that's it."

Loke pulled to a stop in front of a rundown building. A sign above the door way announced it to be a boys only home. I jumped out of the car what felt like the millionth time for the day and went to knock on the door.

"Not going to get an answer that way."

I turned to who had spoken. A group of boys were leaning against the side of the building. "Who're you?"

One of the guys, a blonde, snorted. "Shouldn't we be asking you that? You thinks it's okay to come to our turf and act as freely as you are."

"Umm…I do?"

The blonde growled at that. "Funny guy huh? Tell ya what kid. You give us that fancy car of yours and I'll forget I ever saw you."

"We'll take the blonde while we're at it." A guy with brown hair came up. Lucy snorted in disgust and the guy babbled on about her being his one true love, earning a growl from Loke.

"You'll not be doing anything." Erza threatened. "If you would be so kind as to tell us where a teen named Gray is we'll be going."

The blonde blinked at her for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "That pansy! Who the hell cares?! He's pronbably hiding so we don't beat the shit out of him aga-"

My fist collided with his fist before he could finish. I heard the unmistakable sound of skin tearing and he fell backwards on to the sidewalk. "What did you do to Gray?"

A purple haired guy took a swing at he that I dodged. I brought my knee up and nailed him in the stomach, sending his crumbling to the ground next to the blonde. "Umm… Natsu?" Lucy whispered behind me.

"I'm not forgiving anyone that hurts Gray!" I swung back to the last guy, the one that was doting in Lucy. "Where is he?!"

He held up his hands in surrender. "How the hell should I know? He probably went to that dump a few blocks from here. Look there for him."

Erza placed a hand one my shoulder. "Very well. We'll be going now."

"Hold on a sec, Erza." I gave the three guys a deadly gaze. "I'm not done with them yet."

* * *

I leaned my head back against one of the rotting trees. What had seemed like hours of being cooped up in the prison known as school it felt good to finally be "free." Course I'm using that term loosely. At the moment I was comfortably enjoying the tranquility of the crappy park I had found. That was, until people started yelling at the top of their lungs in the distance.

"Why can't people just shut up for one damn minute?" I groaned.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Someone screamed in the distance.

Wait a minute. That obnoxious yelling sounded familiar.

"GRAYYYYYY!"

"Natsu?" I sat up and looked in the direction of the yelling.

"GRAY!" A flash of pink rounded around the corner. His eyes landed on me and he ran and threw his arms around me before I could even register what was happening.

"Natsu?"

The pinkette snuggled into my neck. "Gray, I found you."

"How did you get her-"

"GRAY!" Three more figures were running towards me, along with a short, fluffier figure.

"You guys are here too?!"

Lucy and Erza threw their arms around me, kind of awkwardly since Natsu still had a grip of steel on me. Loke kneeled down beside me and ruffled my hair. A blue ball of fur burrowed into me chest. _What the hell is going on?!_

Natsu reached up and kissed me on my mouth before I could voice my question out loud. Lucy let out one of her many squeals and Erza blushed at the showing of affection. Loke let out a laugh as I sat there dumbly.

Natsu slowly pulled away from and gave me one of his priceless smiles. His grin fell as his eyes moved across my face. "So really are hurt." He traced one finger across the bruise under my eye.

"Uhh," What is going on here? "What did you guys come from?!"

Natsu went back to his grinning. "We're here to take you back. Why else would we be here?"

"Take me ba-"

"Yep!" Natsu cut me off. "Let's go. We already got your stuff from the foster home earlier, so you don't have to go back. Now let's get you back home."

I blinked at all of them. "You know this was probably the worst idea any of you have ever had." They nodded, "and that I probably am just going to get sent back here." Another nod, "so you guys came all the way out here knowing that and you didn't care."

"That's right!" Natsu stood up and reached a hand out to me. "Let's go home."

I reached out and took his hand. "Let's go home."

…

Natsu made a sound similar to a dying animal. "You okay?" I asked for what seemed like the hundredth time. His head laid on my lap and his skin was kind of yellow. He gave a grunt in response. I ran my fingers through his hair pink affectionately. "You suffered through motion sickness this long, and you still have to put up with it." Another grunt. "Thank you."

He turned towards me. "For...what?" He choked out.

"For caring about me. All of you." I raised my voice so the rest of the group in the car could hear me. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Loke grunted. "Don't be going all sappy on us now. We're only half way home."

"Still, I really appreciate it."

…

* * *

"Hey… are you asleep?"

Gray turned over and faced me. "No, I'm up."

"Good." I slid down on the couch next to him. After some heavy debating we decided it would be for the best if Gray stayed with me for the night. Showing up on Lyon's and Ultear's doorstep at eleven at night saying 'Look what we got for you,' didn't exactly seem like the world's best idea. Even though Gray really wanted to see them he agreed not to. He didn't want to give his brother a heart attack just yet, though he probably did anyway. Erza brought up that a missing person's file has probably been filed for him because of his sudden disappearance.

Gray wrapped an arm around me and I cuddled against him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

I rested my head against his chest. After a few moments I heard his heart beats even out and a light snoring coming from him. I gave him a light kiss on his jaw before falling asleep myself.


	23. Epilogue

**I do not own Fairy Tail. So here is the conclusion of this fanfiction piece (yep,it's done, nothing else to add). The whole Natsu and Gray relationship turned out to be a lot of fun. I am planning to write more stories with the two in a relationship (I already have two different ideas), but the next few weeks of my life will be occupied with AP testing, testing in general, studying, et cetera, so I don't know when I can write the stories. If I have time I will but no promises. One last thing/question, did Gray really seem on the bottom of the relationship? I tried to make to mostly even, minus a few parts, but how against are you guys against him not being on top of the relationship? **

* * *

_Two Weeks Ago_

_ The court judge skimmed over the recorded document before him. Eager eyes watched him as he read, waiting to hear his remark on the subject. After what felt like ages to those in the court room the judge cleared his throat, alerting those in the room he was ready to speak. "It seems…"he drawled out, adding to the feelings of anxiety in the crowd. "After a thorough investigation, details have been revealed to show immaturity on some parts, some of which that cannot be overlooked."_

_ Faces fell as the judge continued on. "Furthermore, evidence shows that the minor should be put in a more secure home with guardians that display a heavy sense of authority than has been previously provided. By any means the minor should not be allowed into the care of his older siblings once again. However…"_

_ A few people shifted at his last word, unsure if they would like the next part of the decision. "Seeing the minor is of a mature age, and has proven to show responsibility, I have considered his choice of wanting to stay with said siblings. For the time being, I'm handing the minor over to the custody of his family members. Case dismissed."_

_ A wooden gavel came down and people in the court room began to disperse. Lyon and Ultear came over and wrapped their arms firmly around me. I returned their warm embrace and couldn't help but feel a tear of joy sliding down my cheek._

Current Day

"Happy? What are you doing here?"

The blue feline wrapped his arms around my leg. "I came to see Natsu's performance."

"You came by yourself?"

Happy shook his furry head. "Igneel brought me with him." He pointed a furry paw towards a man walking into the school auditorium.

I gave a small wave. "Hi Mr. Dragneel." The man gave a brief nod before moving to his seat. It was almost comical how serious the man was compared to his enthusiastic son.

Happy stayed with me as I took my own seat next to Loke. On my other side were Lyon and Ultear. Lyon had finally accepted Natsu after the events that happened a few weeks ago, much to the pinkette's pleasure. Happy hoped onto my lap were he could see over the heads of the people in front of us.

A curtain pulled back to reveal a set stage. One by one actors came on to make their appearances and recite their lines. I have to admit, my boyfriend was one pretty damn good actor. Not that I would ever tell him that, he'll let the compliment go straight to his head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Loke smile when Lucy came on the stage. Yet he always said _I_ was the romantic idiot.

Happy let out a giggle at the stage kiss between Natsu and Lucy. Which Natsu had assured me that it was only a stage kiss, nothing real, much to my embarrassment. (He went on and on about giving me a real kiss after the play, the whole time nearly the entire cast and crew were laughing at him and his promise.)

After the play ended I snuck backstage to where Natsu was getting ready to go home. I handed him the bouquet of roses I had brought to give him, the roses matched his hair perfectly. True to his word, he did kiss me, much to my embarrassment. (It was right in front of the cast members that had yet to exit.)

Natsu let out a short laugh at the blush creeping up my face before taking my arm and leading me out of the auditorium. Yes, my boyfriend can be embarrassing sometimes, but that doesn't mean he's any less sweet.

He gave my hand one last squeeze before heading back home. "See you tomorrow."

I reached up and pecked his lips. "See you tomorrow."


End file.
